


Let Me Live Again

by 3syllables



Category: The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alec Lightwood is Thirsty, Alec Writes Romance and Erotica, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Author Alec lightwood, Blow Jobs, Book!Malec, Bookstore Owner Magnus Bane, Embarrassed Alec Lightwood, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Face-Fucking, I Promise There Will Be Hella Smut, Insecure Magnus Bane, M/M, Magnus Bane Is A Freewheeling Bisexual, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Alec Lightwood, POV Alternating, POV Magnus Bane, Sex Toys Are Fun!, Shy Alec Lightwood, Slow Burn, Virgin Alec Lightwood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:47:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 68,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23114170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/3syllables/pseuds/3syllables
Summary: Thirty minutes later Alec was still lost in less than pure thoughts about the stunning man in front of him, he started as the man began closing his laptop and gathering his things into his leather messenger bag. He stood up and began to turn away from where Alec was sitting, but he suddenly turned back around and leaned over the table, so his face was right in front of Alec and said, “Thanks again for the seat, maybe I’ll see you around here again, handsome.” He winked and gave Alec a devilish smile that should have been illegal before heading out of the coffee shop. On his way out, Alec saw him stop and chat with Jocelyn, giving her a quick hug before the jingle of the door sounded out his departure.Alec let out a lungful of air, unsure when he’d started holding his breath. The man called him handsome and winked at him,winkedat him! Alec doubted very much that he’d ever see the man again, but he suddenly had an idea.Quickly pulling his laptop towards him he started to write,The smell of spring was heavy in the air when the man entered, he was lean and tall with tan skin and golden eyes…OR the one where Alec is an erotica author and Magnus owns a novelty bookstore.
Relationships: Clary Fray/Isabelle Lightwood, Magnus Bane & Alec Lightwood, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Simon Lewis/Maia Roberts
Comments: 189
Kudos: 399





	1. The Meet-Cute

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well here goes my first attempt at a chaptered fic! It's not going exactly how I outlined it, but I like what's happening so far. Alec has a lot more going on than I expected so I'm just letting my brain take me for a bit of a ride, I'm here for it though.

Alec Lightwood glared at his laptop screen as if it had wronged him and his family. On the screen was a nearly blank Word document with just the words “throbbing member” typed out followed by a stream of letters and numbers that looked like a cat had walked across the laptop’s keyboard. Or in Alec’s case, like someone had put their forehead on the keyboard dejectedly, no longer caring what happened on the screen, while his cat, Church, looked on critically.

Alec was still glaring at the laptop when his phone rang, he started and looked down at the caller ID, a picture of his sister Izzy sticking her tongue out was looking back at him. 

“Hey Iz, what’s up?” Alec said, trying to keep the misery out of his voice.

“Heyyyyy big brother, guess what your favorite sister slash best literary agent did for you?!” Alec could practically hear Izzy vibrating with excitement through the phone. 

“What did you do Izzy?” Alec groaned. “Please tell me it’s not something over the top that will require me to pack a bag and meet you at the airport, I’m not really up for leaving my apartment right now.”. Izzy was known for her elaborate surprises to try and cheer him up. Four years ago, Alec had gotten a negative book review that had left him reeling; he’d spent two weeks holed up in his apartment with his phone off and immersed himself in his favorite books. Izzy had eventually shown up with plane tickets to a horse ranch in Tennessee where they’d spent a week riding horses in the mountains, drinking tons of wine in the evenings, and (in Izzy’s case) flirting with the ranchers. The trip, while unorthodox, had been the perfect reboot for Alec, they’d gotten back to New York and he proceeded to write his most popular book to date, _The Ranch Hand_. 

“Well don’t sound too excited,” Izzy sounded like she was doing her best to be annoyed with him, but she was obviously eager to tell him whatever she was about to say. “I know you’ve been having a little bit of writer’s block, and I know you love hearing how much your fans love your books. Sooooo I just booked you a live reading and book signing event in the West Village! I found the perfect bookstore–”

Alec cut Izzy off before she could finish the sentence, “Jesus, Izzy you did what? You know I don’t do anything live! Why? Why would you do that?” Alec felt his stomach drop, Izzy was right, he did like hearing from fans about how much they liked his books, but not like this. He liked the emails, social media comments, and the occasional physical piece of mail from fans. He had never done a live reading before. Hell, he didn’t even have his photo on his books or website. He was just a name on his books, Alec Lightwood; and most people thought that wasn’t even his real name. 

“Whoa whoa, calm down Alec, we’ve definitely talked about this before. You told me you wanted your fans to know you more and I can’t think of anything better than meeting fans at Bane’s Erotica, Books, & Toys!” Izzy seemed almost surprised at Alec’s response. 

“No, no definitely not there!” Alec felt like he was going to be sick. Bane’s Erotica, Books, & Toys was a staple of Greenwich Village, a long-standing LGBT bookstore that had recently come to also sell sex toys and other erotic paraphernalia. Alec had been there more than once to buy himself different toys and books over the years, but he’d always gone in wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses, perpetually embarrassed at showing his face. There was no way he could go to one of the bookstore’s famous book readings as himself, as someone more than the name behind his books. He couldn’t be _the_ Alec Lightwood, author, winner of a Lambda Literary Award in Gay Romance and Erotica, he was a fraud. 

“Izzy, there is absolutely no way that I can do this. Thank you for thinking I could but it’s not happening. You know why I can’t meet the fans. And, you know I haven’t been able to write anything in weeks!” Months really, he thought with a grimace. Alec stood up from his desk and started pacing around his small office. He generally kept it pretty neat and organized but as the days had turned to weeks and he still hadn’t been able to write, he’d stopped caring; dirty plates and half drank mugs of black coffee scattered surfaces, and there were books everywhere. He turned to face the window, so he wouldn’t have to look at the chaos anymore, it looked too much like how he felt inside right now.

“Slow down! You’re acting like this is a way bigger deal than it is. Your fans are dying to meet you, and no one needs to know that your long awaited next book isn’t done yet. I just think if you got out there and interacted with the public a bit you might get your writing mojo back, who knows maybe you’ll find yourself a sexy muse.” Alec could practically hear his sister’s eyebrow waggle through the phone.

“Ha, yeah right,” Alec let out a humorless laugh, “I’m a real fucking catch, a clinically depressed 29-year old author who lives alone with his cat, stays in all the time, and oh, who’s a goddamn virgin. I write romance and erotica Izzy, I’m a fraud to my fans and definitely not worth anyone’s time.” Alec ended his last sentence harshly, he’d told Izzy his fears before, but he generally tried to put on a happy face for his sister. He was just so tired right now, he’d been tired for weeks, he couldn’t keep the mask on with her anymore.

“Alec…” Izzy paused, Alec could tell she was choosing her words carefully. She cleared her throat and continued, “Alec, your virginity means nothing, it’s none of your fans business and god knows you write about sex like a pro. And who cares if you like to be alone! Some of the best authors from history have been introverts, it has nothing to do with your talent.” She took a deep breath, Alec knew she was going to bring up the first thing he mentioned, his depression, “And Alec, I know you’ve struggled with depression for years, but I’ve also watched you work so hard to get yourself to the place you are today. Any future partner of yours will be lucky to have someone as strong and resilient as you.”

Alec’s throat felt tight and his eyes burned, Izzy knew better than anyone what he’d been through. He made a noncommittal noise, so she knew he was still there, but he didn’t trust his voice to respond and not break.

“Please, promise me that you’ll take some time to think about the book reading. I think it could be really good for you to get out and remember why you started writing,” she paused, “to give your readers a chance to get out of their lives and dive into that brilliant brain of yours…and to get off to those sex scenes that I still can’t bring myself to read.”

Alec laughed, thankful his sister had lightened the mood and gotten him out of his own head for a minute. “Alright, alright, I’ll think about it. No promises though. I don’t even know what I’d read.”

“Oh, I forgot to tell you! The bookstore owner told me his favorite book was _Our First Dance in Rio_ , I’d almost forgotten about that one but apparently, he’s loved your books for years now and he can’t wait for you to come to the store.” Izzy started rambling on about the bookstore and how many people they could fit for a reading. Alec tuned her out stuck on what she’d said, _Our First Dance in Rio_ was one of Alec’s earliest books. He’d written the first draft when he was 20 and studying abroad in Rio de Janeiro, he’d had his heart broken by the beautiful Paulo Oliveira. Alone in a foreign country he’d started writing to work through his feelings, before he knew it he’d written his first book. Izzy was the one who convinced him to submit it for publishing, quickly jumping on-board as his literary agent and the rest was history. The majority of his fans had started reading his books after _The Ranch Hand_ , and while Alec put a piece of himself in all of his books, he held his first book closest to his heart.

“He really wants me to read from _Our First Dance in Rio_?” Alec cut in, unsure what Izzy was saying, something about getting a cardboard cutout of himself holding one of his books, no way that was happening.

“What? Oh yeah, your first book! I was surprised he knew about it, but I guess he owns a bookstore, so it makes sense he reads books. He said he’d love anything you read but that that was his favorite book of yours. Wait, does this mean you’ll do it?”

“If I can read from _Our First Dance in Rio_ then I think I’m in, but, can we keep the number of fans to under 45 or something, with no live streaming or anything like that, you know I don’t like big crowds,” Alec gave a quick thought of what else he wanted, “Oh, and I definitely do not want there to be a cardboard cutout of me.”

“Done, done, and if you’re really sure about the cutout, done.” Izzy said. “I was thinking we could schedule the reading for next month, who knows maybe by then you’ll have started on your new book!”

“And maybe pigs will fly too Izzy,” Alec said sarcastically. “If that’s all you’re going to torture me with for now, I’m going to go. I have a busy afternoon planned of willing words to come out of my brain.”

“Don’t work too hard, maybe try going for a walk or something, if I know you you’ve probably haven’t left your apartment in ages. And take a shower, I bet you smell. I don’t care if you’re a brilliant author, you still need to shower.”

“Alright! Enough bashing of your brilliant author client, I’m hanging up now.” Alec was laughing, he knew she was probably right, she had a knack at being right.

“Shut up you love it. Love you!” Izzy said as Alec pulled the phone away from his ear to hit the end button.

“I love you too Izzy, bye.” Alec hung up shaking his head at the phone in his hand. He didn’t know how his sister had the ability to shock him senseless, nearly bring him to tears, make him laugh, and then convince him to do an event he always sworn to never do. She was damn good at her job he thought looking around his office.

Yuck, he definitely needed to clean up in here.

\--

It took Alec a few days to get his apartment back to its usual state of “cluttered but clean and homey.” He’d found way too many gross mugs of coffee hidden on his bookshelves and under stacks of paper. He really needed to stop pouring new cups of coffee when he misplaced a half finished one, and he needed to stop putting his coffee down in weird places.

Once he’d gotten his apartment livable again Alec took Izzy’s advice and decided to pack up his laptop and go for a walk in the late morning (after a long shower and much needed shave), hoping he’d find inspiration out in the world. Alec put on a pair of well-worn jeans with a warm sweater, it was early April but there was still a chill to the air. The smell of spring was all around him and many of the trees that lined his Brooklyn street were in full bloom. Alec wasn’t sure when springtime in New York had started to happen, but he was glad to be outside experiencing it. 

Alec was lost in thought, letting his feet take him down a familiar route, before realizing it he’d arrived at one of his favorite coffee shops, Café Alicante. Smiling to himself Alec opened the door to the familiar sound of the small bell above tinkling his arrival and a comforting wave of the smell of roasted coffee. 

“Well look who it is, long time no see Alec!” a voice called from behind him, turning around Alec was suddenly gripped into a tight hug. “Where have you been kiddo? We were starting to think you found a new place to get coffee and sit with your laptop.” 

Alec was looking into the bright green eyes of Jocelyn Fairchild, one of the owners of Café Alicante. Her long red hair was pulled into a messy bun on top of her head and she wore beaded earrings that Alec suspected she’d made herself. Her big smile at the sight of him tugged at his heart, Jocelyn and her husband Luke had become like family to him when he’d been financially cut off and kicked out of his parents’ house in college after coming out at 19. They’d given him a job at the café that helped him pay for the rest of his college tuition and had become the closest thing Alec had to parents anymore. 

“I know, I know,” Alec ducked his head as Jocelyn reached up to try and flatten his unruly dark hair. “I’ve been having a hard time writing so I hid myself away, you know how dramatic us writers can be.” Alec was smiling as he said it, but he saw Jocelyn look at him intently to make sure he was okay. He’d known them for over ten years now and Jocelyn was almost as good as Izzy at picking up on his mood. 

“Well, we’re glad to have you back sweetie, Luke will be thrilled to see you, and Clary too! Did I tell you she’s moving back for good?” Clary was Jocelyn’s daughter from her first marriage, she’d left her abusive ex when Clary was a baby and Valentine Morgenstern had died soon after in a car accident. Luke Garroway came into their lives when Clary was a toddler and Clary had never known another father. For the last two years Clary had been living in Spain as a teaching fellow for her PhD program at Columbia University. She was planning to do her dissertation on the feminist undercurrents in the work of Spanish surrealist artist Remedios Varo Uranga. She had recently decided to move back to New York after breaking up with her longtime girlfriend, Aline. It seemed like perfect timing as Clary had just been awarded a teaching fellowship at Barnard for the fall and she claimed that she needed to buckle down on her dissertation for Columbia before she “becomes one of those PhD students who never finish their program and end up as a middle school substitute teacher.” Alec doubted that would happen to Clary, she had powered through her bachelor’s and master’s degree programs and seemed well on her way to achieving her dream of becoming a tenured professor. 

“Are they here? I’d love to say hi before I try and get some writing done,” Alec said with more confidence than he felt, he still wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to write again. 

“Go get your usual corner all set up and I’ll send them over with some coffee,” Jocelyn said as she wound her way back to the counter. 

Alicante wasn’t a very large coffee shop, but Jocelyn and Luke had worked hard to make it feel comfortable and cozy, a place people could both hang out and also get work done. Alec’s corner was just a big blue armchair tucked behind a large ficus tree. There was a coffee table and a smaller armchair across from it, though people tended not to sit there if he had his laptop on the coffee table. The spot gave him privacy while allowing him to see the goings-on of the coffee shop around him. Winding his way through the other tables and chairs Alec began to settle himself into his spot, taking out his laptop and headphones to place on the coffee table in front of him. 

“Alec!” Turning at the voice Alec smiled to see Clary, a nearly perfect copy of her mother with red hair and green eyes. She was wearing paint splattered jeans and converse with a comfy looking zip-up hoodie. “Mom texted to say you finally stopped by, Luke’s still in the apartment but he said he’s coming down to say hi, so you better not leave without seeing him.” Clary was shaking a finger at him to demonstrate the seriousness of Luke’s words, though she couldn’t keep a straight face for long. One of the things Alec loved about Clary was her quickness to laugh and smile, she never failed to cheer him up when he was down. He was glad to have her back. 

“I’m not going anywhere until I get something written for my new book so it’s safe to say you guys are stuck with me forever.” Alec was starting to get his laptop booted up as he chatted with Clary. “I swear it feels like I’m never going to write another word.”

Clary scoffed, “Alec, you’re being ridiculous. So long as I’ve known you, you've always been able to come up with a new book idea; no matter how stuck you seemed, you would suddenly get hit with a burst of inspiration and write a super popular book.”

“Maybe…” Alec didn’t see the point of trying to convince Clary that his writing career was doomed, she would just try to put a positive spin on things and he was still wallowing in his writer’s block. He saw Luke heading their way with a coffee and pastry in his hands, the perfect distraction to Clary’s impending pep talk. 

Luke reached the table and put both the coffee and pastry down on the table before reaching to pull Alec up into a tight embrace. “Alec, it’s so good to see you. You can’t go that long without stopping by, Jocelyn was beside herself, she almost went to your apartment to make sure you were okay.”

Alec felt a tightness in his chest, the affection Luke and Jocelyn had for him still continued to surprise him all these years later. “I’ll check in next time I become a hermit, promise.” Alec held up his right hand in a mock Boy Scout salute to show he meant it. 

He let himself be pulled into another big hug before sitting back down. 

“C’mon Clary, we left a huge mess upstairs and your mother will kill me if she sees what we’ve done before we clean up.” Looking at Alec, Luke dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, “Clary’s helping me build Jocelyn a shelf to put all of her house plants, she has too many to fit in the kitchen window anymore.” Luke and Jocelyn lived in the two-bedroom apartment above Alicante, it was where they’d raised Clary and where Alec had had many family dinners after his shifts at the café . 

Luke glanced around quickly to make sure Jocelyn hadn’t overheard and quickly ushered Clary towards the door marked “Private” at the back that lead up to their apartment. Looking over his shoulder he called, “It was good to see you Alec, we better see you again soon!”

\--

Alec was staring intently at the regrettably blank Word document in front of him when he heard a quiet “ahem.” He was startled to see a man standing in front of him looking at Alec expectantly. 

Alec pulled his headphones down around his neck, the sound of Chet Faker’s “No Diggity” quieting straightaway and looked up. He felt his cheeks flush immediately; the man was gorgeous! He was tall, taller even than Alec, but where Alec was broad-shouldered the man was lean and slender. He had skin the color of bronze and beautiful almond shaped eyes that looked almost gold. Alec shook his head, he was being ridiculous, the man's eyes weren’t gold, they were brown with flecks of gold and were accentuated by the gold eyeshadow and black eyeliner he was wearing. 

“Is this seat taken? There isn’t anywhere else to sit right now,” the man was gesturing to the seat across from Alec where his backpack was sitting. Alec looked around to see that the café had filled up at some point during his staring contest with his laptop. 

“Oh shit, sorry! Yeah, yeah it is, no, wait. No, it’s not taken, please feel free to sit.” Alec was babbling like an idiot as he reached to grab his backpack and make room on the coffee table for the stranger. 

The man smiled a brilliant smile and Alec felt himself stop breathing for a second. “Thank you.” The man put down his coffee and sat, he took out a laptop and put earbuds in his ears with a nod to Alec. 

Alec took that as a sign that the man was done interacting with him. Shoving down the feeling of disappointment Alec pulled his headphones back over his ears and resumed staring at his laptop, except now he couldn’t concentrate at all. He kept sneaking glances of the man, taking in his dark, perfectly styled hair with streaks of blue in it; his chiseled jawline with the perfect amount of facial hair along his jaw and around his full lips; the long neck with an Adam’s apple that Alec wanted to kiss or bite, he couldn’t decide which. The man was wearing a floral print button up with the sleeves rolled up to expose his tanned, muscular forearms, wrists adorned with silver and gold bracelets. He wore a perfectly tailored black vest over his shirt with dark jeans, he’d crossed his legs to put his laptop on one knee and Alec ached to have those long legs wrapped around him. The man was typing something on his laptop and Alec noticed that his fingers had a variety of rings on them and he had his short, manicured nails painted a deep blue that matched the streaks in his dark hair. 

Alec tore his eyes away from the man’s long fingers and forced himself not to look up anymore. Last thing he wanted was for the guy to think he was a creep. Thirty minutes later Alec was still lost in less than pure thoughts about the stunning man in front of him, he started as the man began closing his laptop and gathering his things into his leather messenger bag. He stood up and began to turn away from where Alec was sitting, but he suddenly turned back around and leaned over the table, so his face was right in front of Alec's and said, “Thanks again for the seat, maybe I’ll see you around here again, handsome.” He winked and gave Alec a devilish smile that should have been illegal before heading out of the coffee shop. On his way out, Alec saw him stop and chat with Jocelyn, giving her a quick hug before the jingle of the door sounded out his departure. 

Alec let out a lungful of air, unsure when he’d started holding his breath. The man called him handsome and winked at him, _winked_ at him! Alec doubted very much that he’d ever see the man again, but he suddenly had an idea. 

Quickly pulling his laptop towards him he started to write,

_The smell of spring was heavy in the air when the man entered, he was lean and tall with tan skin and golden eyes…_

***

Magnus Bane left Café Alicante with a small smile playing across his lips. Magnus had met Jocelyn a year and a half ago when he’d discovered her and Luke’s café in Greenpoint. Magnus had never known Jocelyn to talk about her other customers but when they’d hugged goodbye she had whispered in his ear that the man he’d been sitting across from was single and usually a regular of the café. Magnus would be keeping that in mind, he was feeling ready to start dating again, it’d been almost two years since he had broken up with his fiancé Camille and he hoped that chapter of his life was over now.

Magnus’ phone started vibrating in his pocket, looking down he saw an unfamiliar number pop up. “Hello?”

“Hi, I’m looking for Magnus Bane, this is Isabelle Lightwood, I’m Alec Lightwood’s literary agent. I’d spoken with Magnus a few days ago about putting together a reading at the bookstore next month. I have some requests from the author before we can finalize our agreement to the event.” The woman’s voice was friendly but professional, Magnus liked how she cut right to the chase about what her call was about; he hated agents that beat around the bush before asking for what they wanted.

“Hi Isabelle, thank you so much for your call, I’m thrilled to hear that Alec agreed to do a reading! Do you know what he’ll be reading? What are his requests? We’ll do whatever we can to make the evening go as smoothly as possible.” Magnus paused, he needed to be cool about this, just because one of his favorite romance authors had just agreed to do a reading at his store was no reason to make a fool of himself.

“I’m glad to hear you’re still interested! I know it took me a while to get back to you, Alec wasn’t sure that he was interested in doing any kind of event right now, but he seems excited to come to your bookstore.” Isabelle said.

“I know you mentioned he’s never done any kind of public appearance before, I’m flattered that he’s choosing my bookstore to come out,” Magnus smiled at his choice of words, he owned an LGBT bookstore, coming out was an entire section at the store.

Isabelle let out a laugh, “Well, let’s hope this coming out is better than his first one!”

“I’ll personally see to that,” Magnus promised. “Now what kind of requests are we talking? Swedish Ska music must be playing at all times? Everybody in attendance must wear turquoise? We’ve had all kinds of authors at the store, I’m sure we can handle whatever it is Alec is asking.” Magnus thought back to the most recent author event they’d done where the author insisted that there be dried garlic hung in all of the windows and above the door; it’d taken forever to get the store to stop smelling like garlic and Magnus still wasn't sure why the author had wanted the garlic in the first place.

“Nothing like that! I won’t even tell him that coordinated attendee outfits are an option. We’re looking to keep the event relatively small, no more than 45 to 50 people and we’re requesting that there be no live streaming or videoing of Alec during the reading. He’s not a fan of huge crowds and doesn’t like the idea of tons of people seeing this reading. I know I’m making it sound like he’s neurotic or paranoid, but I swear he’s a great guy, he’s spent the last nine years writing his books for the fans and he’s definitively ready to share more of himself than just the books with everyone. I think a small, personal event at Bane’s Erotica, Books, & Toys will be the best way to finally get him out there.”

“Well, Isabelle, those are certainly things I can guarantee to you. It’ll be an intimate reading from Alec Lightwood that I’m sure we’ll sell out of in no time. Do you happen to know what he’ll be reading?” Magnus tried to sound casual and not pushy, but he _really_ wanted to know what Alec would be reading.

“Sorry about that, I totally forgot to answer you earlier, I believe Alec will be reading from _Our First Dance in Rio_ , I know it’s an older book of his, the first one actually, but I think a throwback will be great for everyone who started reading his books after _The Ranch Hand_. I’m thinking we’ll bring a bunch of copies of some of the earlier works as well as the newer books for people to buy…oh jeez, sorry this part has nothing to do with you.” Isabelle let her sentence drift off.

“No worries! _Our First Dance in Rio_ is my favorite book by Alec, so I’m overjoyed that’s the one he’s chosen to read from.” A sound chirped in Magnus’ ear and he pulled his phone away from his ear to glance at the screen, he was getting a call from Tessa Gray, his good friend and assistant manager at the store. Tessa didn’t call that often, so Magnus thought it best to answer her sooner rather than later. “I’m so sorry to do this Isabelle but I’ve got another call coming in that I need to take, any chance we can continue this conversation later?”

“Of course! I actually need to run too so great timing. I’ll send you an email with what you’ll need from us to advertise the event. Thanks for taking the time to chat Magnus. Bye.” Isabelle hung up and Magnus scrambled to answer Tessa’s call.

“Tessa? Everything okay?” Magnus asked, the stress in his voice evident.

“Hey Magnus, yes, I’m so sorry to call, nothing’s wrong, but I just wanted to let you know that Camille is here in the store. I don’t know how close you are to getting here but if you don’t want to run into her you may want to take your time coming in today.” Tessa sounded like she was talking in the back room to avoid being overheard.

Magnus let out a breath, everything was fine, well almost everything. Camille had a habit of showing up and turning things to chaos around her, avoiding her tended to be the only way to ensure his sanity.

Taking a deep, calming breath Magnus focused on letting thoughts of Camille out of his mind and breathed out a big puff. Trying to think about something else, Magnus thought of the beautiful blue-eyed man at Café Alicante, the _single_ beautiful man he remembered. He’d have to try to pop into the café more often to see if he could run into the man again. In the meantime, he’d go back to his apartment and do his work from there. The Alec Lightwood reading was in just over a month and there was plenty to do to get everything ready, Magnus wanted to make sure that Alec’s “coming out” was a success.

Turning around to start walking to the subway that would lead him home Magnus nearly forgot about Camille, thoughts of the handsome stranger and finally meeting his favorite author both filling his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welllll, I hope you liked the first chapter! I'm going to try and update it pretty regularly, I'm a veggie farmer by day so as it gets warmer my free time decreases significantly, but writing is my happy place so I'm trying to keep it a priority. Anywho, I'd love to know what you think, so any comments, critiques, kudos would be appreciated.
> 
> Cheers xx


	2. The BAM! Cock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It’s over 13-inches long and has an 8-inch girth? Oof. Alec, do you see this? Look, it even says, “NOT for the faint of heart!” on the back!” Izzy had taken the BAM Cock and was waving it in his face to show him the warning on the back of the packaging.
> 
> “They’re not wrong about that you know?” A voice came from across the office where the door had just opened. “We try and stress that it’s a toy best handled by experienced users, but that doesn’t stop customers from buying it and then calling a few days later to ask about our return policy.” There was a pause, “We don’t do returns for any of the sex toys FYI.” 
> 
> There was something familiar about the voice that Alec couldn’t quite put his finger on. Alec turned around and felt his breath catch in his throat, he knew this man, he’d thought of him repeatedly for the past month as he worked on his newest book. It was the gorgeous man he’d sat across from at Café Alicante. It was him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gah sorry this isn't longer, I'd originally written this as one long chapter but it got a bit out of hand. I'm going to try and post the next chapter by this weekend.

“Izzy, I can’t do this, I don’t know what sort of magic you used to get me to agree to this last month but I definitely cannot do a live reading tonight.” Alec was pacing around his apartment, repeatedly running his hands through his hair, and drinking cup after cup of coffee.

“Alec, I need you to put down the cup of coffee I know you’re drinking, how many have you had? You sound pretty crazy right now,” Izzy’s reasonable voice was not helping Alec relax, he didn’t understand how she could be so calm right now, did she not see that this was a terrible idea! What had possessed him to hire his _sister_ as his literary agent?

“Six cups isn’t _that_ many,” Alec mumbled into the phone, it was true, he’d been known to drink six _pots_ of coffee during particularly prolific writing sessions. “Besides, coffee has nothing to do with your insane idea of me reading from _Our First Dance in Rio_ out loud, to strangers, in public in three hours!” Alec could hear that his voice had hit a slightly hysterical note, maybe he should ease up on the coffee.

“You can’t back out now, the tickets to the event have been sold, the bookstore is set up for everything, and the owner is really looking forward to meeting you. He called me this morning to confirm everything and repeatedly told me how excited he and the staff were about having your first public appearance ever be at Bane’s Erotica, Books, & Toys. This is a big deal Alec, people cannot wait to meet the man who created all of their sexy, romantic fantasies!” Izzy sounded exasperated, she’d been saying the same thing over and over to Alec for the last two weeks as the date of the reading got closer. “Listen, I’ll be there in less than two hours, I’m not letting you bail on this; I’m finally starting to get more clients now that Jace is sending authors with no agents to me from the publishing house. I can’t have people thinking that my clients are a bunch of undependable recluses.”

Alec winced, it was a low blow, but Izzy was right. After working with Alec almost exclusively for years as she finished school and saved up, Izzy had officially opened the doors of her own company, Idris Literary Agency. With the help of their adopted brother, Jace, she’d just started getting a slow, but steady stream of new clients for her to represent.

Jace had left his job in Boston at Beacon Press two years ago to begin working as an editor at the publishing company Alec and Izzy’s parents owned, Lightwood Publishing House. Jace generally worked with beginning authors who didn’t have a literary agent yet, so he’d started sending promising authors to Izzy as soon she’d gotten to a point where she could handle more clients. Robert and Maryse Lightwood hadn’t yet figured out what Jace and Izzy were doing, but Alec had a feeling they were going to freak out when they did. The Lightwoods had cut Alec off from the family ten years ago when he came out as gay. Alec and Jace had both been in college, living at home at the time, Alec a sophomore and Jace a freshman. Alec knew Jace felt guilty about not leaving the Lightwood’s home with Alec when it happened, but Alec couldn’t blame his brother. Jace had come to live with the Lightwoods when he was ten years old after his father died and he’d always felt uneasy about his place within their family even though the Lightwoods had legally adopted him almost immediately. 

Alec took a breath, “I hate it when you’re right. Can you get here sooner than that though? I have no idea what I’m going to wear.” Izzy squealed in his ear making Alec momentarily regret his words. Stomping the feeling down when she stopped squealing, he asked, “Is that a yes then?”

“I’m going to do my best, I’m at the office in Midtown right now so it’ll take me a minute to run back to my place, change, and get to Brooklyn; but I’m on my way now!” Izzy sounded like she was running, Alec could hear the sound of paper being shuffled and something falling loudly. “Shit!” Izzy exclaimed, Alec had to hold back a laugh at his sister, as poised and put together she always seemed he knew she was a bit of a disaster at times. “I’ll call you when I’m close, love you!”

“Love you too Iz,” Alec said as the phone line went dead. Alec looked around his apartment, he had a feeling Izzy wouldn’t get to his place with much time to spare and he really did need help picking out something to wear. Alec had a sudden idea, Clary! Alec hadn’t had a chance to talk with her much since he’d seen her at Café Alicante, but she’s always told him to reach out if he ever need help. If this wasn’t a time to ask for help he didn’t know what was, plus, she had a much better sense of style than him.

Alec:

_(4:47 PM) Hey Clary, I know this is completely random, but I was wondering if you could help me out. I have my first public reading (ever!) tonight at 7:30 and I have no idea what to wear. Izzy was going to try and help me figure it out, but she won’t be here for a while. Any chance you’re around for some last-minute fashion advice? I could really use a friend._

Alec knew he was laying it on thickly, Clary valued friendship nearly as much as family so he knew that if she was free she’d be likely to help him.

Clary:

_(4:53 PM) hey alec!! yea, of course i can help! i’m actually not too far from your place, i can be there in less than 15. make me a cup of coffee for when i get there? <3_

Alec:

_(4:54 PM) Yes! Thank you so much Clary, see you soon._

Alec let out a huge breath, thank the angel for Clary! He walked over to his coffee maker to start a fresh pot of coffee. 

***

Magnus looked around his store and was pleased with what he saw; Bane’s Erotica, Books, & Toys was humming with activity. His employees were putting the finishing touches around the store; organizing the stock out on the floor, setting out chairs, and setting up a table near the front of the store for Alec Lightwood to sign books and meet fans after the reading. Isabelle had asked if he could put out copies of Alec’s more popular books as well as some of his lesser known early books. Magnus generally tried not to feel self-important when he’d discovered an author before they became commercially successful, but he couldn’t help it this time, he’d been fangirling hard for Alec Lightwood's books for almost ten years. He supposed it could have something to do with the mystery surrounding the man (who didn’t love a mysterious man who wrote words so erotic that they came to Magnus’ mind any time he was alone in his bed). Alec Lightwood had never made a public appearance before, even choosing to accept his Lambda Literary Award via a beautifully written letter instead of going to the award ceremony. Magnus wondered what the man would be like…

Magnus was suddenly brought back to reality by a gentle hand on his arm, “Hellooooo, earth to Magnus?” Tessa was looking up at him with her gray-blue eyes and an amused smile, “Have you been listening to me at all or are you just daydreaming about meeting your dream author?”

Magnus scoffed, even though Tessa was right he wasn’t about to give her the satisfaction of knowing that. “I was not daydreaming, I was, I was obviously mentally reviewing everything to make sure the event this evening goes smoothly.” 

“Uh huh, sure you were,” Tessa rolled her eyes at him, Magnus knew he hadn’t fooled her at all. “We’ve got an hour and a half before Alec shows up, did you need to run home and change? No offense, but this outfit seems a bit tame for Magnus Bane.” She gestured to his skinny jeans and vintage Rolling Stones t-shirt he’d bedazzled himself. “I would’ve thought you’d be wearing one of your infamously flamboyant outfits.”

Magnus looked down at himself, Tessa was right, he’d rushed out to the bookstore this morning to make sure everything was ready, he hadn’t stopped to think about what he was going to wear that evening to meet Alec Lightwood. Glancing at his watch Magnus exhaled, “I hate to admit it, but you’re right. Everything’s basically all set here, mind holding down the fort while I go home and put on something more befitting a Magnus Bane outfit?” He winked at Tessa as he started pulling on a light jacket and checking his pockets for his keys.

“Of course, now hurry up. And don’t be late!” Tessa called after him as he started the quick walk back to his West Village loft.

***

Alec flung himself down onto his bed amid the pile of clothes he’d deemed undesirable. “It’s pointless Clary! I should just go in what I’m wearing, I look ridiculous in everything else.”  
  
Clary looked exasperated, she’d gotten to Alec’s apartment forty-five minutes earlier and after putting together multiple outfits had realized that she needed something stronger than coffee if she was going to help Alec. Taking a big sip from the glass of Malbec Alec had handed her she let him have it, “Listen up Alec Lightwood, I know you spend 90% of your time in those holey, faded things you call sweaters, but you need to wear something just a bit less threadbare for your first public event _ever_.”

“But -” Alec was interrupted by the sound of jingling keys and his door swinging open before Izzy came into the apartment calling his name.

“Alec! I’m so sorry I couldn't get here sooner; the stupid subway was delayed. We should definitely take an Uber to get to Greenwich Village - ...Oh shit it’s you! I mean, uh, hi.” Izzy had walked into Alec’s bedroom and caught sight of Clary standing in the middle of the mess with her glass of wine. Alec watched with amusement as Izzy’s cheeks heated up at the sight of the petite redheaded woman. 

Deciding to save his sister from the silence that followed her awkward entrance Alec cleared his throat, “Hey Iz, you remember Clary, right? She just moved back to the city from Spain after breaking up with her girlfriend.” Izzy shot Alec a quick glare at the way he’d stressed the last part of the sentence. “Uh, anyways, I asked for her help when I realized you weren’t going to get here very soon. We’re not having much luck, but maybe you can help me convince Clary that my sweater is alright to wear.”

Clary finished her glass of wine, “Fine! Wear the damn sweater, but if it starts unraveling from one of the hundred holes on it while you’re reading some sexy scene and the crowd ends up rolling on the floor with laughter it’s not on me!”

“Over my dead body, that sweater isn’t going anywhere near the event later,” Izzy said menacingly before Alec had a chance to defend his sweater, there weren’t _that_ many holes in it. Izzy sauntered over to his closet and started flinging his hangers back and forth looking at what he had to wear. “Alec, Clary and I are going to pick something out and you’re going to wear it with no complaints, and you, you are going to get Clary some more wine and get me a glass too while you’re there.”

Clary turned to smile at Izzy with a quick wink, “Aye aye captain, I do like a woman in charge.” She handed her empty glass to Alec and walked over to stand beside a quickly blushing Izzy.

Alec shook his head and walked out of the room, he knew Izzy had had a crush on Clary years ago when he’d first started working at Café Alicante, but he’d forgotten all about it. Izzy hadn’t seriously dated anyone in over two years, and while Alec thought it could be awkward having his good friend and his sister date each other they would also make a great couple. A few years ago the Lightwoods had decided that Izzy’s bisexuality wasn’t enough to completely cut their only daughter off from them (“She could end up with a man!” Maryse had said), but Isabelle’s relationship with their parents had been strained ever since she’d come out. Dating Clary would drive their parents crazy.

Filling up two glasses with wine he went back into his bedroom to find the two women in deep conversation holding up a shirt he didn’t recognize and a pair of brand new looking pants. “Where’d that shirt come from?”

Izzy turned around to look at him, “Seriously? I got it for you for Christmas two years ago.” Turning back to Clary Izzy gave a wry smile, “See, I told you he wouldn’t remember, any gifts besides books or bags of fancy coffee go completely unnoticed.”

Clary laughed, “Well, it works out that you bought this shirt two years ago, it’s perfect. Alec, go put it on, we’re working on accessories right now.” She tossed the shirt to Alec who caught it and looked down at the denim button up warily. It was a very soft shirt in a shade of blue close to his eye color, he supposed it might be okay. “Wait, don’t forget the pants!” Clary threw the black jeans Izzy had been holding to Alec as he walked into the bathroom attached to his bedroom.

“Oh great, different pants too,” Alec muttered to himself as he closed the door to change. Pulling off his sweater and old jeans Alec looked at himself in the mirror. Jace had been showing up at his apartment rain or shine to drag Alec out for a run four times a week for the last two years. Jace had jumped at the chance to help his brother after Alec mentioned that his therapist said exercise may help with his depression. As much as he complained about it Alec appreciated the time he got to spend with his brother, and running did seem to help with his mood. The brothers had recently decided to run a half-marathon in the fall and had been doing much longer runs in preparation for it, Alec’s body had never looked better thanks to the added miles each week.

Alec pulled on the black jeans, he vaguely remembered getting them before a first date a while ago; he couldn't remember if he’d actually gone on the date or if he’d bailed, bailed probably if he was being honest with himself. The jeans fit his toned legs surprisingly well, Alec spun in the mirror and decided his ass looked great in the jeans too. Grabbing the denim shirt Alec started doing up the buttons, stopping to leave the top button undone, his chest hair just visible. Alec rolled his sleeves up his forearms, exposing the black tattoos he had twinning from his wrists up his arms under the shirt. Looking back in the mirror Alec decided that if he couldn’t wear his favorite sweater this outfit would do.

Walking barefoot back out to his bedroom Alec watched as Izzy and Clary looked up from where they sat on his bed talking as they sipped their wine. 

“Ow ow! Check you out Mr. Lightwood, your fans aren’t going to know what to do with themselves,” Clary started to get up as she cast an appraising look over his outfit. 

“Whoa brother, you look great! Why don’t you wear clothes that actually fit you more often? And don’t say it’s for comfort!” Izzy was holding out a belt they’d picked out. “Alright let’s put the rest of your outfit together and then we should get going.”

Besides the belt they’d pulled out a pair of black boots he’d forgotten he owned and a leather jacket for him to wear. He grabbed a pair of socks from his dresser and started putting them on, “Ha ha, very funny Izzy,” Alec knew that Izzy had a point, he tended to wear his clothes until they fell apart. Alec pulled on the leather jacket and looked in the mirror above his dresser, he had to admit Izzy and Clary had done a good job picking out the outfit. 

“Oh shit! Alec, we need to leave!” Izzy was looking down at her phone. “We need to get to the store now if we aren’t going to be late.” She quickly tossed back the rest of her wine and looked over at Clary, “Are you coming? I’d love to catch up with you some more tonight.”

“Uh, I’m not sure, Alec is it alright if I come?” Clary looked at Alec questioningly, he shrugged and looked at Izzy, he was already reading one of his books in front of a bunch of strangers, what did it matter if Clary was there too.

Izzy was standing behind the shorter woman mouthing “please please please,” Alec relented.

“The more the merrier,” he said good-naturedly, Izzy better thank him for this later. Alec walked out to his living room where he’d left his battered first-edition copy of _Our First Dance in Rio_. He’d bookmarked the pages he planned to read that night, a section that he hoped was a good balance of romance and the erotica he knew his fans were coming to hear (according to Izzy at least). He chuckled to himself, as nervous as he was about the reading tonight he had a feeling that Izzy and Clary were going to be the ones blushing later. Maybe tonight wasn’t going to be all bad.

***

Magnus glanced at the clock on his dresser, shit, he needed to be back at the store ten minutes ago! Turning back to his reflection he decided this would have to do. His cat, Chairman Meow, looked up at him from his perch on the couch as he walked by briskly to the front door. “Be good Chairman, I know I left clothes out, but you cannot sharpen your nails on them again. I don’t think anyone bought my excuse that I was trying to make ‘cat shredded’ a fashion statement last month.” He closed and locked the door behind him and took off at a hurried pace to get back to the store.

Fortunately for Magnus his loft on 12th St was a quick ten-minute walk back to Bane’s Erotica, Books, & Toys on Christopher St and before he knew it he was walking into the store through the door marked “Employees Only.”

“I know, I know, I should’ve been here twenty minutes ago,” Magnus held up his hands in mock surrender when he saw Tessa rushing up towards him. “But I do look fabulous, don’t I?” He spun around dramatically for her to see. Magnus had returned to the store wearing one of his favorite vintage blazers, a deep midnight blue with a black paisley design embroidered over it. While the blazer wasn’t form fitting he wore it buttoned up with a low cut sleeveless shirt underneath. The look revealed a good portion of his smooth chest, and Magnus had put on two silver necklaces that lay suggestively on his brown skin.

“I can’t believe you’re wearing leather pants Magnus, thirsty much? You don’t even know what this guy looks like yet,” Tessa rolled her eyes at the tight pants and low-heeled boots Magnus had paired with his outfit. “Though I have to say your make-up is absolutely on point tonight! I can never get my eyeliner to look that even.” Tessa shook her head and started walking with Magnus up towards the front of the store.

“Ah, well practice makes perfect darling! How are things going here? Has Alec Lightwood arrived? How has the audience been responding to being told they can’t record?” Magnus felt himself slip into proprietor mode as he looked around. The reading was set to take place in the back corner of the store where there was a lectern on a small raised platform surrounded on three sides by bookshelves well-stocked with all manner of LGBTQ+ erotica. Earlier that day Magnus, Tessa, and a few other employees had set out forty-five chairs for everyone who had bought tickets to the event. People were starting to get settled into their seats after checking in at the door; Magnus felt an infectious energy in the space, he knew he wasn’t the only one excited about tonight.

“Things are fine Magnus, this isn’t our first reading with a popular author, at least this guy isn’t asking us to hang garlic everywhere, that was so weird. But yeah, he’s here already actually –”

Magnus quickly cut Tessa off, “What? Why wouldn’t you lead with that? Where is he? Did you offer him something to drink? What does he look like?” Magnus had started frantically looking around the room for someone who looked like he wrote sexy, romantic, gay novels…whatever that meant.

Tessa responded calmly to Magnus’ barrage of questions, “I was getting there, you haven’t exactly given me a chance to get many words in yet. To answer, he’s in your office with his agent, I think she’s his sister or something, and a friend, I’ve already gotten him a cup of coffee, and he’s hot, really hot Magnus, definitely not what I expected from the recluse author image he’s earned himself over the years. Come on, I’ll introduce you.”

***

Alec was nervously looking around the office that the bookstore manager (Tessa maybe?) had brought him, Izzy, and Clary to wait in after they’d arrived. She’d said that Magnus Bane ( _the_ Bane of Bane’s Erotica, Books, & Toys) was running a few minutes late but should be arriving at any moment. Alec assumed the office belonged to the store owner; the desk was organized but had stacks of books on the corners, the walls were covered with framed posters of vintage gay erotica books, and the shelves around the room were overflowing with a copious number of sex toys that Alec could only assume were sent as samples. He’d felt a blush creeping up his neck the moment he walked in and seen the shelves, he couldn’t believe he was here with his sister and Clary. Izzy and Clary didn’t seem to feel any of the awkwardness that he felt though, they’d started poking around the shelves as soon as Tessa had dropped off mugs of coffee for them.

“Oh my god, I’ve never seen one this big in person!” Clary was holding up a still-packaged dildo that had the words “BAM Cock” written across it. “It’s practically as long as my entire arm!” Clary was holding her arm next to the package, and Alec noted that she was right, Clary’s petite frame looked ridiculous next to the giant dildo she was holding. He wished she’d put it back, but Izzy had rushed over to stand beside Clary examining the dildo.

“It’s over 13-inches long and has an 8-inch girth? Oof. Alec, do you see this? Look, it even says, “NOT for the faint of heart!” on the back!” Izzy had taken the BAM Cock and was waving it in his face to show him the warning on the back of the packaging.

“They’re not wrong about that you know?” A voice came from across the office where the door had just opened. “We try and stress that it’s a toy best handled by experienced users, but that doesn’t stop customers from buying it and then calling a few days later to ask about our return policy.” There was a pause, “We don’t do returns for any of the sex toys FYI.”

There was something familiar about the voice that Alec couldn’t quite put his finger on. Alec turned around and felt his breath catch in his throat, he knew this man, he’d thought of him repeatedly for the past month as he worked on his newest book. It was the gorgeous man he’d sat across from at Café Alicante. It was _him_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any comments, critiques, kudos, and general lovin's appreciated <3


	3. The Reading

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "And this is Alec Lightwood...Alec? Uh, earth to Alec?” Izzy’s voice brought Alec back from the memory, his face heating up as he stared at the man he never thought he’d see again, the man who’d inspired his latest book, and the man Alec had repeatedly allowed himself to think of when he jacked-off. 
> 
> Alec dragged his gaze away from the kohl rimmed eyes that were looking at him bemusedly. Fuck, he needed to say something. Fuck fuck fuck, why, why did Magnus Bane have to be the same man, and why for the love of god was he even more attractive than he remembered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just couldn't go another chapter without some kind of smut sooo here's some good ole fashioned self-loving ;)

_Five weeks earlier_

Alec sat at his desk rereading the words he’d just typed out on the screen. He smiled to himself at the way he’d described his protagonist’s love interest, thinking of the man he’d encountered a week ago at Café Alicante. 

This wasn’t the first time he used someone from the world to inspire a character, Alec’s imagination had always been “active,” but this was the first time he continued to think about the individual behind the inspiration. His mind kept flicking back to the man’s lean body and long legs, Alec had a feeling that the man would’ve been just a little bit taller than him if they stood next to each other. Alec was a tall man and didn’t often meet people much taller than himself; his heart started beating faster at the idea that he would have to lean up a fraction to kiss those full lips.

“What am I doing?” He groaned out loud, running his hands up over his face into his hair. He looked over at Church who was watching him from his perch on top of a bookcase. “I didn’t even get the guy’s name and I’m sitting here thinking about his lips, I need a real boyfriend.” Church didn’t offer any response to Alec’s announcement, he just continued to stare down at Alec from his spot in that haughty way cats have.

Alec stretched as he stood up from his desk, his bones felt stiff from sitting in front of his laptop for so long. What he needed was a hot shower to help ease some of the stiffness, plus Izzy was coming over with Chinese food later and she always made a point to inquire about his last shower. Alec knew it was her way of checking up on him without blatantly asking “How are you feeling? Do you need to see a therapist again?” every time she saw him. 

Turning on the shower Alec took off his clothes and waited for the water to warm up. Alec felt restless and more than a little horny. He’d been writing the first _really_ erotic scene in his book between the protagonist and his love interest (loosely based on the man he’d seen at the café). It wasn’t unusual for Alec to feel a little hot under the collar when writing those scenes, but he wasn’t usually quite this hard up. 

He sighed and stepped into the shower, too bad he was going to die alone and a virgin, like an erotica writing Jane Austen, at least he had running hot water. 

Alec began to wash his body, trying to ignore the jolts of pleasure that went through him as his soapy hands moved further down his chest and stomach. He let his hand run along his cock, he was already aroused from writing the scene, it didn’t take many more strokes before he was hard in his grip. Using one hand to brace himself against the shower wall Alec let his other hand move slowly up and down his length.

Alec’s breath stuttered as he tightened his hold and started fucking into his own fist, wishing desperately for another hand he could use to slide down to play with his asshole. The thought of long golden fingers caressing and easing into his rim caused his hand’s movements to become jerkier. “Fuuuuuck,” he gasped at the image in his mind. Letting go of the hold he’d been willing upon himself to not think of the stranger, Alec let his mind wander. 

He pictured the man standing behind him in the shower, sliding his hands to the front of Alec’s slick body and reaching down for his cock to slide a hand up and down exactly the way Alec liked. He shivered as he imagined the man kissing his shoulders, the back of his neck, and sucking Alec’s earlobe into his mouth. “Yes,” Alec gasped out, his eyes were closed, and his hand was moving steadily along his cock. 

Alec imagined the man taking his other hand slick with the body conditioner Alec always had in his shower to slide down Alec’s back to his ass. The man’s fingers kneading his ass cheeks before reaching a finger down to swirl around his asshole before plunging deep into Alec. Alec arched his back at the thought, he badly needed something physical in his ass. Alec let his shoulder brace against the shower wall so that he could let his now free hand move back to his hole. 

He could almost feel the way the man would open him up slowly, using one, two, three fingers until Alec was panting and writhing against him begging for him to fuck him with his cock. Alec pushed his own finger into his ass with a strangled cry of pleasure as he imagined the man sliding his cock into him. 

It was all Alec could do not to come at the imagined sensations, the movement of his fist had become irregular once he’d put his finger in his ass and his face was pressed hard against the cool tile of the shower. Alec let the building pleasure take over him, picturing the feel of the man fucking deep into him as he came in Alec’s ass. The image of soft lips and bronze skin with golden eyes flashed behind his closed eyes as Alec came hard all over the bathroom tiles. 

_Present day_

“And this is Alec Lightwood...Alec? Uh, earth to Alec?” Izzy’s voice brought Alec back from the memory, his face heating up as he stared at the man he never thought he’d see again, the man who’d inspired his latest book, and the man Alec had repeatedly allowed himself to think of when he jacked-off. 

Alec dragged his gaze away from the kohl rimmed eyes that were looking at him bemusedly. Fuck, he needed to say something. Fuck fuck fuck, why, why did Magnus Bane have to be the same man, and why for the love of god was he even more attractive than he remembered.

***

Magnus came into his office with Tessa slightly behind him and took in the scene in front of him. Three people were stood around his office, a tall, brunette in dark jeans and a well-tailored blazer was waving a giant dildo in the face of a man whose back was to him. A petite redheaded woman dressed more casually was laughing as she watched the interaction. 

It was certainly not first time Magnus had seen people ogle at the sight of the BAM! Cock (part of the reason he liked to keep one in his office was just to see the way people reacted), but he’d never seen the back of someone’s neck turn quite that shade of pink as the brunette read aloud the dildo’s description “It’s over 13-inches long and has an 8-inch girth? Oof. Alec, do you see this? Look, it even says, “NOT for the faint of heart!” on the back!”

Ah, so the dark-haired man facing away from him must be Alec Lightwood. He was taller than Magnus expected, not quite as tall as himself (not many were), he looked well-muscled under the well-fitting leather jacket he wore. Magnus let his eyes wander to take in the man’s black denim covered ass, he had an overwhelming urge to grab it. He shook his head, he needed to pull it together, he hadn’t even seen the man’s face yet.

“They’re not wrong about that you know?” He said conversationally as he moved further into his office. “We try and stress that it’s a toy best handled by experienced users, but that doesn’t stop customers from buying it and then calling a few days later to ask about our return policy.” The brunette woman snorted and muttered something that sounded like ‘yuck,’ to the redhead who’d come to stand beside her. Magnus hurried on before they started telling people that his store sold used dildos, “We don’t do returns for any of the sex toys FYI.”

The dark-haired man turned slowly to look at him, there was something familiar about Alec Lightwood that Magnus couldn’t quite place. The brunette woman came forward, her hand outstretched, “Magnus, right? Isabelle Lightwood, we’ve spoken on the phone quite a few times over the last few weeks. Sorry about that,” she gestured with a laugh to the shelf where she’d returned the BAM! Cock. She was smiling at Magnus as he took her hand and shook it, she was very pretty, her long hair falling in perfect waves to the middle of her back. “This is Clary Fairchild, a good friend of Alec’s, she's here for some moral support.”

The petite redhead stepped forward, big smile on her face, “It’s so nice to meet you! I’ve always loved coming to your store, you have everything a girl could need.” She winked at him with a friendly laugh, he had a feeling she was referencing the extensive sex toy collection the store boasted. She looked like someone Magnus knew, and the name Fairchild seemed familiar though he couldn’t quite place where he knew her from. 

“And this is Alec Lightwood...Alec? Uh, earth to Alec?” Isabelle smacked the author on the arm and Magnus remembered what Tessa said about the two being siblings, it made sense and he felt like an idiot for not putting two and two together, it’s not like Lightwood was a common last name.

Magnus moved closer to the man, his handsome face was flushed a deep crimson as he stared at Magnus. Magnus gave his award-winning smile to the man who quickly averted his gaze. Pity Magnus thought, his eyes were Magnus’ favorite shade of blue. 

Magnus took another step forward and reached out his hand, “Magnus Bane, it’s so great to meet you, I’m thrilled that you’re doing a reading here tonight.” Magnus’ hand dangled out in front of him for a moment before Alec Lightwood seemed to wake up from the daze he was in to put his own hand out and shake Magnus’ hand. Magnus could have sworn he felt a spark pass between the place that their skin touched, he chastised himself for the ridiculous thought, it was just static.

“Uh, sorry,” the man stammered, “Fuck, no, not sorry, hi, I’m Alexander Lightwood, or uh Alec, Alec Lightwood.” His face, which had started to fade to its normal shade, was quickly turning an alarming shade of pink. Poor guy must have been more nervous about the reading than Magnus thought.

“Alexander then?” Magnus asked. Alexander was a name he’d always loved. 

Alec managed to blush an even deeper shade of crimson as he nodded and pulled his hand slowly from their handshake, “Uh, yeah, Alexander works.” Magnus watched as his blue eyes flashed to Isabelle, “Izzy, do I have time to run outside for some fresh air?”

“Yes, but don’t even think about running away, you’re coming back inside and doing the reading,” Isabelle said the words lightly, but Magnus saw the serious look she gave Alec. He nodded and quickly darted from the room, a book Magnus recognized as _Our First Dance in Rio_ grasped firmly in his hands. 

Isabelle turned back to Magnus, “Sorry about that, I swear he’s not always so jumpy. I guess first public appearances will do that to you.” 

“Not a problem at all,” Magnus said smoothly. “Should someone go out to check on him?” He took a step towards the door, he wouldn’t mind the chance to be near Alec Lightwood again.

“Nah, he’ll be better if we leave him for a minute, he likes his space,” the redhead, Clary, said as she glanced around the room and took a sip of her coffee. 

Red hair, coffee…oh! “Are you by any chance related to Jocelyn Fairchild? She owns Café Alicante in Brooklyn.” Magnus could see the resemblance now, Clary looked like a younger version of the woman Magnus had gotten to know over the last year and a half. When Magnus and Camille broke up he’d stopped going to their favorite coffee shop. Camille and her Page Six gossip columnist friends seemed to always be there. It wasn’t as much of a blow as Magnus thought it’d be, he’d stumbled across Café Alicante after visiting his friend, Catarina, at her place in Brooklyn. He had been going there at least once a week to work in peace and quiet since then. 

“Um, yeah, she’s my mom.” Clary seemed a bit confused. “Why do you know my mom?”

Magnus’ brain started putting pieces together, if Clary’s mother owned Café Alicante then it was likely that Alec Lightwood, Clary’s good friend, would go there sometimes. Magnus recalled sitting across from an attractive dark-haired man over a month ago. The man had seemed focused on his laptop, but Magnus remembered the way Alec had leaned back into his chair and run his fingers through his dark hair, mussing it adorably. Magnus’ hands had itched to smooth the tousled hair back into place and then trail down to the slight stubble on the man’s jaw. He hadn’t been able to get any work done that day with the man sitting across from him and had left after a short time, figuring he’d be better off working in his office. When he’d stopped to say goodbye to Jocelyn on his way-out Jocelyn had mentioned that the man was single, at the time Magnus had wondered how she knew but it all made sense now. 

“I love her coffee shop; she and Luke are so sweet, and their coffee is some of the best in the city.” Magnus rambled on as he shook off the surprise of having met Alec Lightwood already. “You look just like her.”

Clary’s face broke into a smile, “Thanks! I can only hope I age as gracefully as her.”

Isabelle pulled out her phone and frowned, “It’s getting close to the start time, I’m going to coax Alec back into the store. Is everything all set to go?”

“Yup! We’ve got a few last-minute folks coming in but we’re ready when you are.” Tessa’s voice came from behind Magnus, he’d almost forgotten she was there. 

Isabelle smiled and began to leave the office, “Great, I’ll go get our author then!” 

***

Alec took deep breaths of the cool spring air and let the sounds of the city wash over him. He’d acted like such an idiot in there, seeing the man he’d fantasized about so many times was jarring. But even worse than his embarrassment was his panic about the book he’d started writing, the character was so obviously based on the looks of the Magnus Bane, fuck. Alec didn’t think he could handle coming up with a whole new plot right now and Izzy has already brought the idea to his publisher, they were expecting a first draft by the end of the year. 

Alec opened his eyes, he couldn’t think about this right now, he still had to go inside and read one of his books to a bunch of strangers. Izzy had told him there’d be a short Q&A afterwards before he had to sign books, shake hands, and maybe pose for pictures (he wasn’t sold on that last part yet). 

“Alec?” Izzy’s voice came through the racing thoughts in his head. “We need to get you set up inside, it’s 7:30.”

Alec turned his head to look at his sister, she had a strange expression on her face, she didn’t look worried he was going to run but she was treading carefully with him right now. He plastered a smile on his face, hoping she’d buy it, “Okay, let’s do this before I lose my nerve.”

Izzy grabbed his hand and brought him back inside. On his way out of store Alec had somehow missed seeing the group of people sitting in rows, but he saw them now, all 45 of them. No one noticed he and Izzy entering the store, he realized with a start that it was because none of them knew what he looked like, not yet at least he thought wryly. Magnus Bane was in front of the lectern reminding the group that no filming was permitted during Alec’s reading and that if his staff saw any phones out they wouldn’t hesitate to ask the person to leave. Magnus was taking his request seriously, Alec felt the knot in his stomach loosen slightly.

Magnus looked up to see him and Izzy at the back of the room, Izzy gave him a thumbs-up and Magnus spoke up to the group once again. “I want to thank everyone for coming to Bane’s Erotica, Books, & Toys for this incredibly special event. Over the years we have been fortunate to have many incredible authors grace this humble stage,” he gestured at the small platform he stood on and Alec heard a few chuckles from the crowd. “It’s no surprise that this Lambda Literary Award-winning author, who writes some of the best gay romance and erotica books on the market right now, is having his first public appearance in the Village. At Bane’s we live for the dramatic and what could be more dramatic than our mystery author coming out in this fabulous place,” his hands swept in an arc in front of him as if to encompass the entire space, “and causing all of us to swoon with his words.”

Magnus cocked an eyebrow up at the crowd and made a motion for Alec to move up to the platform, Alec felt Izzy give him a quick push and he began walking towards Magnus. Alec was aware that the once still group of people had started turning in their seats to look at him as he strode forward with all the confidence he could muster, channeling every self-assured character he’d written over the years. His gaze moved back up to Magnus who was grinning broadly at him, seeming genuinely thrilled that Alec was there, now on the platform beside him. Alec had been right, Magnus was in fact that little bit taller than him, he felt his stomach flutter at the realization.

“It is without any further delay that I introduce you to Alec Lightwood, author of thirteen full length novels including _The Ranch Hand_ , _Wicked Paradise_ , _Ransom’s Doubt_ , _Borrowed Time_ , and my personal favorite, _Our First Dance in Rio_.” Magnus put his hand on Alec’s arm to steer him in front of the lectern. Alec breathed in the smell of sandalwood as Magnus leaned in to whisper, “You’re going to be amazing Alexander,” with that he stepped down from the platform and walked to stand beside Izzy.

Alec took a deep breath and looked down at what’d he’d written to say before starting his reading, “Uh, hi, I’m Alec Lightwood, I’m not really great at stuff like this but I’ve been told everyone here likes my books, so uh, thanks for that. Um, I know I could have read from any of my books but I’m reading part of my very first book, _Our First Dance in Rio_. If you haven’t read it yet it’s about a twenty-something guy, Daniel, whose backpacking through South America and finds himself in Rio de Janeiro where he meets a charming Brazilian man, Antonio, who shows him not only the beauty of the city and its people, but all the ways he can love Daniel. Um, anyways, this reading is from Daniel’s first night in Rio when he meets a handsome stranger in a bar.”

Alec pulled out his copy of _Our First Dance in Rio_. Izzy had given it to him ten years ago when they received the first 300 copies of the book, the book had symbolized his decision to be a writer instead of pursuing a career in teaching high school English like he’d always planned. Alec flipped to a page near the beginning, he paused looking down at the words, he heard Magnus’ voice in his head _“You’re going to be amazing Alexander.”_ Taking a shaky breath Alec began to read…

_Daniel put his passport down on the hostel’s registration desk in front of him, behind it sat a young woman in her early twenties her light brown hair falling in tight curls to her shoulders, a big smile on her face. “_ _Olá, você fala português_ _?”_

_“_ _Olá_ _, uh no sorry, just_ _inglês e espanhol_ _.” Daniel cursed everyone who told him that his Spanish speaking skills would be enough to get him through Brazil. He’d found that Portuguese speaking people could easily understand him when he spoke Spanish, but he had a hard time understanding what people said back to him. It’d taken him three days longer to get to Rio de Janeiro because of a misunderstanding when he’d crossed from Colombia into Brazil at_ _Las Tres Fronteras_ _, a region where the borders of Colombia, Peru and Brazil all meet along the Amazon River. Thanks to a major detail lost in translation Daniel had ended up on a bus bound for Fortaleza, a 1,600 mile and 37-hour bus ride mistake. He’d mostly picked this hostel from his guide book for the hot showers it boasted, he had three days’ worth of grime to wash off ASAP._

_“Ah, okay, I speak English then. We have just three beds tonight in our big dormitory, it is R$24,50. You want it? We have showers.” She had leaned closer to look at his passport and then promptly sat back in her seat, “I am thinking you need one.”_

_Daniel did the quick mental math, the dollar was strong in Brazil, but he still needed to make his savings go as far as possible, a little less than $5 a night was a price he could handle though. “Yes, that sounds good, obrigado.”_

_An hour later Daniel had finally taken a shower and stashed his rucksack in one of the lockers available at the hostel. He’d put on his cleanest shirt, a once white linen button down, and his go-to jeans, the soft denim faded to a light blue, before walking outside of the hostel in search of food and a drink. The hostel was on a bustling street two blocks away from Rio’s famous Copacabana Beach, Daniel headed out in the direction of the coast hoping to find a place along the way._

_He quickly found a bar right on the water and ordered himself feijoada and Brazil’s national drink, Caipirinha. The lime and sugarcane liquor of the drink was refreshing and strong and he felt himself relax as he took in the sounds of the ocean and samba music playing nearby and looked out at the steadily darkening horizon._

_Daniel was interrupted from his musings by a hand on his arm, he looked up to see the most beautiful man he’d ever seen…_

Twenty minutes later Alec stopped reading and looked up to take in the enthusiastically clapping strangers in front of him, holy shit, he did it! He willed his hands to release the grip he’d had on his book and took a deep breath. Alec felt a hand touch his arm, he looked down at long fingers, the nails painted a deep blue and decorated with silver and gold rings, Magnus had come back onto the platform to stand beside him. Magnus leaned in close to quietly speak to Alec, “That was fantastic,” he smiled, “We’re going to start the Q&A portion of the evening now, I’ll call on the audience but answering is all you. You ready?” Alec looked into Magnus’ eyes, a rich brown with golden flecks, just like Alec remembered.

“As I’ll ever be,” he replied shakily.

“Let’s do this then,” Magnus cleared his throat and the audience quieted and looked back up at the lectern. “Alec has agreed to a fifteen to twenty-minute-long Q&A, try to keep any spoilers out of your questions but if you can’t please give the rest of the audience a quick heads up. While I’ve got you here Alec, I’d love to ask a quick question, do you love all your books equally like they’re your children, or do you have a favorite?” Alec smiled gratefully at Magnus, he was ready for this question.

“A great question! I do indeed have a favorite...”

\--

Two hours later Alec let himself be crushed in a hug as Izzy practically yelled in his ear, “That was amazing! You’re a total natural at this Alec.”

Alec wasn’t sure if he was really a natural, but he’d survived the evening. His reading had gone surprisingly well once he’d let himself be taken into the story, almost forgetting that he needed to stop reading and not just finish the whole book. Magnus had been a fantastic moderator during the Q&A, encouraging the audience to ask thoughtful and sometimes funny questions; Alec was surprised how much he’d enjoyed interacting with his fans. The crowd had continued their thoughtful questions and quiet comments as most of them lined up to have books signed, to tell Alec their favorite book of his, and, much to Izzy’s surprise, to take pictures with Alec.

“Thanks Iz, I couldn’t have gotten here tonight without you, and Clary too, I got a lot of compliments on my outfit.” Alec looked down at the denim shirt, he was pretty sure some of the fans he’d spoken to had been hitting on him, though he was admittedly terrible at knowing when he was being flirted with.

“I'm glad we could help! We’re going to go grab a drink, did you want to come?” Izzy and Clary were standing close to one another and had started heading towards the door, the last thing Alec wanted was to be the third wheel.

“I’m good, you two go, have fun,” he said and tried to wink but ended up just scrunching up half his face, he sighed, he was going to be awkward forever. He waved to the two women and turned to pick up the jacket he’d left on a chair. Magnus was standing nearby and talking with Tessa about her closing the store for the night. Alec took a moment to look at Magnus again, he’d worn a deep blue blazer that opened to a smooth brown chest, two necklaces laying exactly where Alec wanted to put his lips. Magnus turned to look at Alec, his kohl lined eyes expressive as he raised his eyebrow at Alec. Fuck, Magnus couldn't read minds, right?!

Magnus turned from Tessa and walked over to Alec, a mischievous glint in his eye, “Alexander, would you like to get a celebratory drink with me tonight? My treat.”

Alec felt his breath catch but he forced himself to answer before he lost his nerve, “Yes. Yes, I’d like that very much.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all I don't know what's wrong with me but I ended up writing like 1200 words more of Alec's book and it gets steamy haha. I might try and make it into a smutty Malec one-off.
> 
> Anywho, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Kudos, comments, critiques, any kinds of lovin's/constructive non-lovin's much appreciated. xx


	4. The Drinks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Had you ever been to the store before tonight Alexander?”
> 
> Alec choked on the champagne he’d just taken a sip of, coughing he said, “Me? Your store? Uh,” he looked around the room avoiding looking at Magnus’ face, “I’m sure I’ve gotten, um, books, yes, books there before. I like books. The books I’ve gotten at your store are always fun, or uh, I mean good. Yes, the books are good.” Alec was blushing again, Magnus couldn’t believe how easy it was to make the man blush and how much he enjoyed seeing the color creep up Alec’s chest to his face.
> 
> “Books?” Magnus asked, “I like books too Alexander, we really do have a diverse selection of books, we try to have something fun for everyone. I’m glad you’ve found books to your liking.” Magnus winked at Alec, who looked like he wanted to melt into the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh bless bumbling Alec, he is my kindred spirit.

Alec’s bravery was quickly wearing off as Magnus went to his office to grab a scarf, why had he said yes to Magnus? Was this a date? Was Magnus just being nice? He should’ve just sucked it up and been a third-wheel to Izzy and Clary. Alec’s internal panic was cut short by the return of Magnus, a deep burgundy scarf wrapped carelessly around his neck. He looked stunning.

“There’s a bar about not far from here, it’s really laid back and never gets too crowded; I get the feeling crowded places aren’t really your thing.” Magnus gave Alec a quick wink and opened the door for Alec to go through first. “See you tomorrow Tessa!” he called over his shoulder as he followed Alec out.

Alec stood on the sidewalk waiting for Magnus to point him in the right direction, unsure of what to do next. “Uh, lead the way?” He gestured lamely with his hand before shoving it back into his pocket self-consciously.

Magnus smiled broadly and moved to link arms with Alec, his hand resting lightly on Alec’s inner forearm, and began to guide him up Greenwich Street. “I’m always happy to take control Alexander,” Magnus said smoothly, looking at Alec from the corner of his eye, “though I’ve got nothing against letting someone else take control either.” He let out a laugh and turned his face towards Alec, “So tell me, how did you feel about tonight? Was it as terrible as you’d imagined?”

Alec’s brain had gone a bit haywire at Magnus’ words, was he reading into what Magnus said? It’d felt very flirtatious but maybe Magnus wasn’t talking about taking control in the bedroom, maybe he was talking about something else. Alec forced himself to focus and answer Magnus’ questions. “I feel pretty good actually, it was great to meet the people who read my books. I try not to read too much of what’s online about them so I’m never entirely sure if anyone is actually reading my books; meeting those people tonight was a nice confirmation for me that people like what I’m doing. And it wasn’t that bad, I’ve definitely had much worse experiences.” Alec tensed and hastily stopped talking, worried that if he said more Magnus would ask questions about what those experiences were.

Magnus glanced at Alec quickly, Alec thought he saw a question in the man’s golden eyes and braced himself to avoid talking about his past; getting cut-off from his family and nearly becoming homeless weren’t exactly the greatest conversations to have with a new acquaintance. Magnus cleared his throat, “Well, I’m glad things went better than you expected. I’m not surprised the fans were so great though; you’re a very popular author, we’re constantly selling out of your books.”

Alec had never been great at taking compliments, and before he knew it he heard the words, “Oh, that’s neat,” come out of his mouth. He looked around longingly for a subway grate to open and swallow him whole, he couldn’t remember the last time he used the word neat.

There was a beat of silence and out of the corner of his eye Alec saw Magnus try to hide a smile, “It is indeed…neat.” Magnus lifted his hand to point about a block ahead of them, “I thought we could go to the Anteroom, it’s a favorite of mine when I’m walking home from the store. I live another five minutes from here.”

“Um, that’s cool. Have you lived in the Village a long time?” Alec asked lamely as he continued to mentally chastise himself for saying _neat_.

“I’ve lived in the area about twelve years, but I was recently able to buy a loft up on 12th Street. It’s only ten minutes from the store so I can be there quickly any time I’m needed, it’s also only ten minutes away so it can be difficult to not spend all my time there. That’s why I love going to Café Alicante, it’s far enough away that my employees only reach out if there’s a real problem on one of my rare days out of the store.”

“Café Alicante? In Brooklyn?” Alec’s heart flipped in his chest, did Magnus realize that he’d ‘met’ Alec before? “Seems a bit far for you to go for coffee if you live right around here.”

“Haha you’re right, but it’s not far from where my good friend, Catarina, lives,” Magnus told him. “Earlier I found out that Clary’s parents own the café, I’m sure you knew that though. It’s crazy how small the city feels sometimes; I’m constantly reminded that no matter how big New York seems everyone is somehow connected.”

Alec glanced towards Magnus, the taller man looked at him with a knowing smile before glancing ahead, “Here we are! After you, Alexander.” Magnus reached to open the door for Alec and gestured for him to head into the dimly lit bar.

Alec took a second to look around The Anteroom, it was small and lit by industrial Edison bulb light fixtures, he started slightly when Magnus walked up behind him and put a gentle hand on his back to guide him towards a bar top in a corner. As they walked passed the bar a dark-skinned woman with springy curls ringing her face broke into a beaming smile. “Magnus! Long time no see, it’s been a while since you brought a date here,” she laughed and reached behind the bar while asking, “Your usual?”

Magnus shook his head and laughed, “Very funny Maia, we’re actually celebrating, how about a bottle of some bubbly?” He looked at Alec to make sure that was okay. Alec nodded quickly and tried not to panic at the bartender’s words, was this a date?!

“Uh, bathroom, where is it?” He asked way too loudly.

Magnus had started unwinding the scarf from his neck and he looked at Alec worriedly, “It’s right back there through the red door, are you okay?”

“Yup! Be right back!” Alec nearly ran in the direction Magnus pointed him in. Once safely locked in the bathroom Alec pulled out his phone and sent a text to his most used contact, “C’mon Izzy, answer your texts,” he muttered to himself.

***

Magnus looked at where Alec had been standing a moment ago before basically running away from him, it was certainly the first time a man had fled so blatantly from him. He sighed to himself, there wasn’t any exit back there so Alec would have to come back through the bar if he wanted to ditch Magnus. It was strange, he thought they’d been having a decent time up till now, Alec was definitely an awkward, somewhat bumbling guy, but he was genuine, kind, and gorgeous; Magnus had been hoping to get to know him more tonight.

Magnus left his scarf at the table (just in case Alec wasn’t trying to escape and had sincerely needed to use the bathroom) and walked over to the bar where Maia had placed a chilled bottle of champagne and two glasses. She looked over towards where the bathroom was, “Everything good there?”

Magnus gave her a wry smile, “We’ll see if he comes back out, if not you’ll have to help me with this bottle.” He sighed before brightening up, “How’d everything go with Simon the other day?” Simon was Maia’s longtime boyfriend; his band had just signed with a label and was recording their first studio album; earlier in the week he’d invited Maia to visit the studio.

“It was so cool Magnus! Mentally, I know Simon and the guys are _The Mortal Instruments_ and they’re kinda hot shots now, but it’s different seeing them actually recording an album with sound technicians and people taking them so seriously.” Maia was glowing with pride for her boyfriend, “But I think that to me they’ll always be a bunch of dorks who originally called their band Sea Vegetable Conspiracy.”

Magnus let out a laugh, “Oh god, at least they worked out the name thing. Do they have any shows coming up, I think I should see them before they – ” Magnus was cut off by a pointed look from Maia, raising her eyebrows she tilted her head towards the table where Magnus had left his scarf. He turned to see Alec looking around with a baffled expression, his dark hair tousled in every direction, as he put his coat on the back of the chair. Magnus caught sight of Alec’s lightly tanned forearms twinning with tattoos and felt his mouth go dry, he really was a sucker for tattoos.

Maia leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, “It doesn’t seem like he’s trying to duck out, but you should probably hurry over before he flees to the bathroom again.”

“And just what are you trying to say about me Maia? That I make gorgeous men bolt with my charm and wit?” Magnus gathered up the bottle of champagne and the two glasses Maia had gotten for him earlier.

Maia grinned at him, “Something like that, go get ‘em tiger!”

Magnus shook his head and walked over to Alec who was sitting in his seat fidgeting with the buttons of his rolled-up sleeves. Now that Magnus was closer he could see that the black and gray tattoos were wings that started at both his wrists and wound up his arms under the sleeves of his denim shirt. On one arm the wing was surrounded by flames and on the other the wing had words swirling around it, Magnus thought he recognized a few of the words and he was pretty sure it was Latin. Magnus’ hands were itching to push the denim sleeves further up Alec’s arms, so he could get a better look at the artwork covering the beautiful man. That was a lie though, Magnus just wanted to get his hands on to Alec’s arms, back, chest, anywhere.

“Alexander, I was worried you were trying to escape out a back door for a moment.” Magnus hoped he was keeping his voice nonchalant, he didn’t want Alec to know he’d been genuinely worried that the man was trying to ditch him.

Magnus watched Alec’s face flush pink as he stammered, “No! I mean, nope, I definitely wasn’t trying to leave, I uh, needed to wash my hands. Yup, that’s it, I needed to wash my hands. I shook a lot of hands tonight, who knows what kinds of things people have on their hands.”

Magnus wasn’t completely sold on Alec’s explanation, but he wasn’t going to try and figure it out right now. He picked up the bottle he’d brought over and poured champagne into the two glasses. As he handed one to Alec he held his glass up, “Well, I’m glad your hands are clean now. Shall we make a toast?”

Alec seemed relieved that Magnus wasn’t going to say anything more and he visibly relaxed in his seat as he picked up his glass and smiled at Magnus, “Sure, that sounds good to me.”

Alec’s smile was infectious, and Magnus felt his face break into a wide smile back at the other man. “Perfect! Well, a toast to you my dear, for an incredible reading, for trusting my store with your first public appearance, and to your fans, who I have to say were one of the better-behaved audiences we’ve had at the store recently.”

Magnus moved to tap his glass against Alec’s, but Alec quickly pulled his back and added, “And to you Magnus, I don’t think I could have gotten through tonight without everything you did. Thank you.” Alec’s tone was sincere, and his blue eyes didn’t leave Magnus’ face as he brought his glass back and let it cling against Magnus.’

Magnus took a sip of the effervescent drink and leaned towards Alec, “It was truly a pleasure Alexander.” Magnus watched as the words affected the him, Alec’s eyes darted to look down into his glass and he bit his bottom lip. Magnus was sure Alec had no idea how attractive he was, which was a pity because the man was stunning. Magnus propped an elbow on the table and placed his chin on his cupped hand as he took another sip of champagne. “So, tell me something about yourself none of your fans know?”

Alec brought his gaze up from his glass to look into Magnus’ eyes, “Ha, well, I’m sure there’s plenty they don’t know about me, I’ve worked hard to remain elusive over the years.” Alec smiled shyly to himself and then added, “But not many people know I have a very large, very judgmental cat named Church who likes to sit on top of a bookcase and watch me struggle with writer’s block. He might be my biggest critic.”

Magnus laughed, “I think all cats are judgmental, though it sounds like Church may be a bit worse than others?” Magnus pulled out his phone from his blazer’s pocket, “I actually have a cat too, his name is Chairman Meow and he has recently gotten into the habit of shredding my clothes!” Magnus quickly scrolled through his pictures to pull up a photo of Chairman Meow sitting proudly in the middle of his bed surrounded by torn clothing. “I didn’t think I would ever forgive him but he’s just so damn adorable.”  
  


Alec’s eyes wrinkled at the corners as he looked at the picture and laughed, “He is very cute, though it’s a shame about your clothes, a lot of them look pretty worse for wear.”

Magnus put his phone back into his pocket and waved his hand, “True, but having that tiny ball of fluff at home is worth all the trouble he gets into. Plus, I have plenty of clothes.”

“You do seem like you’re always well-dressed,” Alec admitted, and then seeming to regret what he said he quickly rushed on, “I mean to say, you seem like you would be always well-dressed, not that I’ve seen you around before and noticed your clothes.” Alec took a big gulp of champagne and crinkled his nose up at the bubbles. “Izzy would say most of my clothes look like your cat had a field day with them already, she and Clary were pretty adamant about me not wearing anything with holes tonight.” Alec shrugged, “I think my sweaters are perfectly fine though.”

Magnus had a feeling that any of Alec’s “perfectly fine” clothes were anything but fine, Izzy seemed like someone with a good sense of style. “I’m sure you’re right,” Magnus said with a wink. “I’m embarrassed to say that it wasn’t until tonight that I realized Izzy is your sister, I didn’t put the Lightwood last name together until I saw the two of you next to one another; you definitely look like siblings. I’ve never seen a brother-sister duo working with each other in the writing world. How did that happen? Is it ever uncomfortable for her to read your books? They can get pretty steamy,” he said with a chuckle.

Alec’s face brightened at the mention of his sister, “Izzy’s great! I mean, yeah, it can get weird, but I try to give her a heads up on what pages to avoid. Though over the years she’s gotten pretty good at separating her role as my agent from being my sister.” Alec paused before saying, “Izzy’s the reason I decided to publish and start writing full-time. I finally let her read _Our First Dance in Rio_ after she spent a month asking every day to read it. I think I mentioned that I’d spent my last two months in Brazil writing and she just _had_ to read it. Izzy can be rather, uh, stubborn?” Alec shrugged and gave a quick laugh, “She’s great to have in your corner, I can’t imagine having her not on my side though, I’ve heard she’s a real pain with the publishers sometimes.”

Magnus had no doubt that Izzy could dig her heels in for the sake of her clients, he remembered her first phone call with him, he’d like how no-nonsense she was. “Well, I’m glad to be on her good side so far. But back-up, you were in Brazil? Does that mean _Our First Dance in Rio_ is based on you and some sexy Brazilian man? Are all of your books based on your real life?”

Alec blushed and went to take another gulp of champagne, finding the glass was empty he blushed even deeper and put the glass down. Magnus moved to fill it back up with the bottle between them. Once Alec had a full glass in his hand he took a big sip and answered Magnus, “Well, I guess the answer is kind of? I think a lot of my books are sparked by something that has happened in my real world and I just let my head run with it until I have some kind of idea for a plot.” Alec took another sip, he wasn’t blushing quite as much now, and he seemed more at ease discussing his books, “I started _Our First Dance in Rio_ after I got dumped by a sexy Brazilian man I thought I was in love with. I realize now it probably wasn’t love, he was just the first guy who was interested in me after I came out.” Alec looked into the pale gold champagne in his glass and then up into Magnus’ eyes, he gave a small smile, “Heartbreak does make for a good muse though.”

Magnus put his hand on Alec’s forearm, he felt him tense slightly at his touch and then relax, “Just because it’s a good muse doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt, I hope the rest of your books had more forgiving inspirations.”

Alec gave Magnus a warm smile, “Oh don’t worry, sometimes it’s just a story on the news that makes my brain start churning, and keep in mind, a lot of my ideas are duds. It took me forever to come up with the book I’m working on.” Alec clammed up, “Uh, but I can’t talk about that yet, something about the publisher…um, anyways, enough about me, tell me about your store, how did that happen? Did you always want to own a book and sex shop?”

Magnus knew a subject change when he saw one and he let Alec’s hasty one slide, though he was itching to know more about his newest book. “You mean did I draw a picture of myself surrounded by a bunch of books and butt plugs in kindergarten when they asked what we wanted to be when we grew up?” Alec laughed, and Magnus continued on, “Before it was Bane’s Erotica, Books, & Toys it was a much smaller book shop called Corner Books, I worked there through college and then after I graduated, I eventually became good friends with the men who owned it. When they wanted to retire ten years ago they offered to sell me the store, agreeing to let me pay in installments each month instead of all the money upfront. It ended up working out well for both of us, I was only twenty-four at the time so there was no way I could have bought it otherwise.”

“Wow! That’s an incredible undertaking for a twenty-four-year-old, when I was twenty-four I could barely afford the horrible room I was renting and all of the time I didn’t spend working I spent holed up in said crappy room writing.” Alec shook his head looking impressed, “I don’t know why I’m surprised though, you’re obviously great at what you do Magnus.”

“Thank you, it hasn’t been all smooth sailing, but I was able to add the sex toy and novelty section to the store about six years ago when I had the opportunity to expand the storefront into the adjacent building. It’s been a very popular addition, especially with our online sales.” Magnus gave Alec a coy smile, “Had you ever been to the store before tonight Alexander?”

Alec choked on the champagne he’d just taken a sip of, coughing he said, “Me? Your store? Uh,” he looked around the room avoiding looking at Magnus’ face, “I’m sure I’ve gotten, um, books, yes, books there before. I like books. The books I’ve gotten at your store are always fun, or uh, I mean good. Yes, the books are good.” Alec was blushing again, Magnus couldn’t believe how easy it was to make the man blush and how much he enjoyed seeing the color creep up Alec’s chest to his face.

“ _Books_?” Magnus asked, “I like _books_ too Alexander, we really do have a diverse selection of _books_ , we try to have something fun for everyone. I’m glad you’ve found our _books_ to your liking.” Magnus winked at Alec, who looked like he wanted to melt into the floor. Magnus pulled Alec’s empty glass towards him and split the rest of the bottle between them. Magnus put his hand back on Alec’s arm and rubbed his thumb across the tattoos crisscrossing the skin. “I like your tattoos by the way, I’m always changing my mind about things, I don’t think I could ever get any myself, but I love them on other people.”

Alec looked down at his arms as if he’d forgotten that they were covered in black and gray ink, “Oh uh thanks, I tend to get them whenever something goes wrong in my life…So, I have a bunch,” he said wryly. Alec glanced down at his watch and started, “Oh shit, I didn’t realize how late it was getting. I need to be up at the ass-crack of dawn to go running with my brother.” He ran his hands through his hair until it was somehow even messier than it was before. “I’m so sorry but I need to head home.”

“No worries,” Magnus said smoothly, he looked at his phone, it was somehow almost midnight, they’d been talking for close to two hours. “The bar closes soon anyways, let me just bring these up to Maia.”

Magnus gathered up the glasses and the empty champagne bottle and brought them to where Maia was standing behind the bar talking with one of the patrons. She smiled at him and took the glasses from his hands, “Thanks Magnus, anything else for you two tonight?”

“Nope, we’re all set,” Magnus slid his card across the bar to Maia. She swiped it and handed it back to him with the receipt. He signed it with a flourish and smiled at her, “See you soon darling.”

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do tonight!” She said too loudly after him, Magnus winced and waved his hand at the laughing woman. God, had Alec heard her? Judging by the lack of blush on the back of Alec’s neck, Magnus could only hope not.

Alec had stood up and put his jacket on, he was holding Magnus’ scarf in his hands as he turned around at the sound of Magnus behind him, “Um, I didn’t want you to forget your scarf.” He held the scarf out and watched as Magnus took it and wrapped it around his neck with a flourish.

“Oh, thank you! I don’t even know the number of times Maia has texted me to say that I left some article of clothing behind.” Alec’s eyebrow quirked at Magnus as they walked over to the door, he held it open for Magnus and followed him out onto the sidewalk.

Alec glanced around, “Do you know where the closest subway station is? Izzy insisted on us Ubering earlier so I’m a bit out of my public transit element right now.”

“The closest one is on 14th and 8th, it’s on the way to my place so I can walk you at least halfway.” He smiled to himself and hooked his arm through Alec’s, happy to have a few extra minutes with Alec.

***

Alec leaned into the warmth of Magnus’ body as they walked in a comfortable silence up the sidewalk. It was mid-May and the night wasn’t cold, but there was enough of a chill that it felt good to be close to Magnus. Alec couldn’t believe how well the evening had gone, between the success of the reading and then him not making _too_ big a fool of himself with Magnus, this was turning out to be one of the best nights he’d had recently.

“I’ve had a great time tonight Alexander,” Magnus said breaking the silence.

Alec smiled, Magnus had read his mind, “Yeah, me too. This beat the glass of wine and hundredth re-reading of Pride and Prejudice I had planned.”

“Now that is something I can relate to!” Magnus slowed down as the got to the corner of 12th Street, “This is me, but if you just walk another few blocks you’ll be at the station entrance. I hope you don’t have too far to go tonight.”

Alec looked down the block Magnus had stopped at, it was a quiet one-way street of mostly pre-war style buildings. Even in the darkness Alec could tell that the trees lining the sidewalks were in full bloom. He turned back to look at Magnus, the slightly taller man was looking down at his face, his golden-brown eyes shining in the streetlight, Alec saw his gaze flick to Alec’s mouth. Alec licked his lips, his throat feeling suddenly dry, it felt like all he could see was Magnus’ heart-shaped lips.

There was a pause as Alec started to lean towards Magnus, but just before their lips met Alec pulled back in a panic. “Oh, fuck, sorry,” he ran his hand across his face and took several steps back, “Um, thanks for the drink and stuff. Uh, later.” Before Magnus had a chance to recover from his bewilderment and respond, Alec bolted in the direction of the subway stop.

***

“Um, bye?” Magnus said as he watched as the back of Alec’s figure all but ran towards 8th Street. What on earth was that about?

Magnus walked slowly to his building turning over what just happened in his mind, had he read the whole evening wrong? He’d felt almost certain that Alec wanted to kiss him, would’ve sworn they were leaning towards one another, until suddenly Alec just wasn’t there.

Magnus reached the elevator in his building’s foyer, he pushed the button for the 5th floor, the highest in the old building and pulled out his phone. It was just after midnight. Perfect.

Magnus:

(12:02 AM) My darling Catarina, are you free for brunch tomorrow? I’m in need of your sage advice.

Magnus’ good friend, Catarina Loss, was a nurse at Beth Israel Hospital and her shift ended at midnight, unless there was an emergency; for his own sake he hoped she was leaving work on time tonight. His phone chimed from where he’d put it down in his bedroom.

Catarina:

(12:13 AM) of course you do…

(12:14 AM) are you buying brunch?

Magnus:

(12:15 AM) For you darling I’ll buy anything. Please say you’ll come!

Catarina:

(12:17 AM) fine, but youre coming to Brooklyn. i’ll meet u at tamra’s around noon. i need my beauty sleep.

Magnus:

(12:19 AM) Catarina you’re a gem! I’ll see you then <3

Magnus put his phone on his nightstand and tried not to think too hard about Alec literally running away from him. Catarina was always objective when it came to Magnus’ love life, maybe she would have a better idea about what happened with Alexander Lightwood tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter, lemme know if you have any critiques, comments, kudos, general love and good vibes; I love hearing from folks! Stay safe out there people xx


	5. The Meet-Cute, Take Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catarina looked thoughtful as she watched Magnus order another drink, after the server left she leaned towards him, “Okay from where I’m sitting there are four or five reasons why your author guy acted like that.” She held up one finger, “One, he’s has a weird stomach problem and was about to shit his pants.”
> 
> Magnus let out a bark of laughter, he’d actually thought of that himself but had decided that no one about to crap themselves could run that fast. He told Catarina as much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a minute for this chapter, I'm a farmer by day and springtime gets busy real fast (so many adorable baby plants to put in the ground!). It is a bit longer so hopefully that makes up for the wait :)

Alec took deep, steadying breaths once he’d gotten a few blocks away, he couldn’t let himself look back at where he’d left Magnus. He wasn’t sure where the overwhelming panic had come from, but he’d felt a painful tightening in his chest when he and Magnus had started to lean towards one another and he’d needed to get out of there. He was pretty sure that he’d fucked everything up with Magnus.

Alec looked around for a street sign, he had to be close to the stop by now. Seeing a sign ahead for the subway he picked up his pace and jogged down the stairs leading to the subway platform. He had a few minutes before the next train, so he pulled out his phone. The screen unlocked to his text conversation with Izzy from earlier in the night; when he’d run to the bathroom at The Anteroom.

Alec:

(9:43 PM) IZZY 911 I’M OUT WITH MAGNUS BANE AND I THINK IT MIGHT BE A DATE?!!??!?!

Izzy:

(9:46 PM) WHAT?! OMG brother! he’s so hot, you should totally go for it!!

(9:46 PM) wait why are you texting me?! are you being rude!

Alec:

(9:47 PM) It’s bad Izzy

(9:48 PM) We’re at a place near the store. He asked me out for celebratory drinks. I said yes. When we got here the bartender said something about a date and I panicked.

(9:48 PM) FUCK! Izzy it’s bad!

Izzy:

(9:49 PM) wat do you mean it’s bad? what happened? and HOW did you panic?!?

Alec:

(9:50 PM) I am currently hiding in a tiny bathroom

(9:50 PM) When the bartender said that I freaked and LITERALLY RAN INTO THE BATHROOM IZZY

(9:51 PM) WHYYYYYYY

Izzy:

(9:53 PM) oh god alec, you need to go back out there. aake up some lame excuse and hopefully he’s cool about it. he seems like a good guy

(9:54 PM) but srsly, you need to get out of the bathroom like now.

(9:54 PM) and don’t text anymore, just go and be present. even if nothing happens after tonight it’s good to see you out there trying to date again!

Alec:

(9:56 PM) I wasn’t trying to date! I just wanted a celebratory drink!

Izzy:

(9:58 PM) sure sure. and those thirsty ass looks you 2 were throwing each other all night meant nothing?

(9:58 PM) now stop texting! you’ve been in the bathroom like ten minutes. and have fun!

(10:00 PM) oh and clary says she really likes magnus so you should go for it ;)

Alec quickly read through the messages and felt sick to his stomach, how had he fucked up so much and so quickly. He hastily typed a new message to Izzy and hit send before putting his phone back in his pocket. He didn’t need to see her response right now, plus his service on the subway was spotty at best.

Alec:

(11:57 PM) Fuck Iz, I didn’t think I could get more pathetic than running away to the bathroom, but I somehow did. When we left we walked halfway to the subway stop together and when we got to his block we stopped to say goodbye and I’m like 99% sure we were going to kiss before I panicked and said something like “Fuck, sorry, and thanks” before running off again, what is wrong with me!? Just add Magnus Bane to the list of hot guys I’ve fucked up with in my life.

The subway ride to his apartment in Greenpoint was uneventful and gave Alec more than enough time to think about how dumb he’d been. Magnus had obviously been ready to kiss him, and Alec had been ready to kiss him too. Until he wasn’t.

His mind had started racing as he imagined what kissing Magnus would mean. Would he be expected to go home with Magnus right then? How would he explain to Magnus that while he’d dated before and had “some” experience he’d never actually been _with_ someone; not in the way people expected him to be at least. It was a conversation he had no idea how to have, not with Magnus Bane, owner of a popular erotica and sex toy shop. He’d probably laugh and decide that being with Alec was too much of a hassle.

Or he’d pity Alec.

Pity would be the worst, Alec thought to himself as he began the walk back to his apartment from the subway stop. Yes, pity would be far worse than Magnus laughing at him. Pity would mean that Alec was pathetic and had something to be ashamed of. And while Alec didn’t think that Magnus was cruel, he didn’t know him well enough to know how he would have reacted to Alec’s revelation.

Alec climbed the front steps to his building, glad to finally be home, though wishing he hadn’t agreed to meet Jace so early the next morning. Once inside his apartment he quickly stripped down to his boxers and looked at his phone, still no text from Izzy, she must be more mortified at him than he thought she’d be. Not a good sign. Moving Church from where he’d fallen asleep across the pillows Alec tried not to think about what he’d done.

Maybe Jace would have some good advice. Alec mentally cringed and imagined Jace’s advice, he would probably tell Alec to ‘just go for it,’ in typical Jace fashion of act first and think later.

Alec rolled on to his side and closed his eyes, willing sleep to come. No use worrying now, he was sure Jace would have something to say when he saw him in a few hours.

***

“Catarina!”

Catarina turned at the sound of her name and walked over to where Magnus was sitting in a corner of Tamra’s. She looked down at the two mimosas on the table and shook her head smiling, “It’s going to be that kind of brunch then?”

She plopped down in her seat across from Magnus and picked up her glass, she held it up and looked at Magnus quizzically, “Are we toasting to anything in particular this morning?”

Magnus flashed her a big smile, the look on her face told him she wasn’t buying it, “Oh Catarina, can’t we just drink mimosas on a Saturday morning together?” He clinked her glass with his and quickly drank half of the orange juice and champagne cocktail.

“Magnus, how long have we known each other?” Catarina asked bluntly as she took a sip of her drink. “I know something’s wrong, come on, tell me what’s going on.”

“Are you two all set to order?” The server asked, interrupting Catarina’s questions. 

Magnus smiled up at the friendly-faced man and ordered himself buttermilk pancakes while Catarina ordered an omelette. The server took their menus and walked away, leaving them alone once again. 

Magnus stopped smiling and looked at his friend, her long black braids were pulled up in a bun on top of her head showing off silver hoop earrings and she was wearing a big dark blue sweater over a black romper. She somehow always managed to look effortlessly elegant. “Darling, sometimes you seem to know me even better than I know myself.” She smiled at the words and took another sip of her mimosa, encouraging him to keep talking. “I kind of met someone last night.”

Catarina sat up straight in her chair, whatever she thought Magnus was going to say it wasn’t this. “What? Who? When? Where? I thought you had that reading with the author you’re obsessed with?”

“Well yeah -,” Magnus tried to begin. 

“Wait!” Catarina interrupted, “Don’t tell me it’s the author? It is, isn’t it.” Magnus waited patiently for Catarina to stop talking, sometimes she was too intuitive for her own good. 

“Catarina just listen to me. I did indeed meet Alexander Lightwood last night, and god Catarina he is gorgeous, albeit a bit shy.” Catarina had stopped talking and was listening to Magnus intently. “Anyway, he had his reading, it was wonderful, and he was amazing with the audience afterwards, staying so much longer than most authors would so that anyone who wanted to meet him could.” Magnus paused remembering how patient Alec was with each person who came up to him after the reading, he had seemed so kind, what had caused him to act so bizarrely later on?

“And?” Catarina prompted, interrupting Magnus’ train of thought. 

“Anyways, I asked him out for a celebratory drink and brought him to The Anteroom. It was a bit weird when we first got there, he immediately ran to the bathroom and was in there for ages. He came out with some excuse about washing his hands? I don’t know, but once he came back out and we started talking, we had such an amazing time.”

“I’m sorry, I’m not seeing the part where you need my advice. It seems like he’s perfect, you haven’t really dated anyone seriously since Camille, so I say you should go for it,” Catarina said candidly. 

“Well, and here’s where it gets weird,” Magnus took a breath and plowed on. “He needed to go to the subway stop near my place, so we were walking together for a bit, arm in arm, he was pressed against me, he smelled soooo good Catarina and I could tell he had an amazing body under his clothes. I swear, it’s amazing I didn’t jump his bones.”

“Magnus,” Catarina interrupted, her eyebrow raised amusedly. “Spare me the horny details.”

Magnus up his hands, “Alright alright, well we got to my block and we were saying goodbye, both of us said we had a great time, and were about to kiss; but then suddenly he was gone!”

“Gone?” Catarina asked lamely, “People don’t just disappear Magnus, we don’t live in a fantasy book.”

“Well fine, but he good as did. One moment he was there, leaning in for a kiss and the next moment he rambled something and then literally ran away from me down the block.” Admitting it out loud was harder than he thought it’d be, though he knew that as sarcastic as Catarina was she wasn’t going to make fun of him. 

“What? He literally ran away?” Catarina looked at Magnus with a level gaze, “you’re not just being dramatic?”

“Shit, I wish I was, but he practically sprinted away from me! I have to say, it really doesn’t do much for a man’s ego.” Magnus said glumly as he finished his mimosa and looked around to order another. 

Catarina looked thoughtful as she watched Magnus order another drink, after the server left she leaned towards him, “Okay from where I’m sitting there are four or five reasons why your author guy acted like that.” She held up one finger, “One, he’s has a weird stomach problem and was about to shit his pants.”

Magnus let out a bark of laughter, he’d actually thought of that himself but had decided that no one about to crap themselves could run that fast. He told Catarina as much.

“Okay then,” she held up a second finger, still snickering at what Magnus said. “Two, he has some kind of personality disorder that caused him to turn in to a different person, like some Dr Jeckl and Hyde situation.”

“Seems unlikely,” said Magnus, “I was around him for hours before we went for drinks and he seemed like the same person the whole time.”

“Well I’m not ruling it out quite yet,” Catarina said before continuing. “Three, he’s an actual asshole that was leading you on the whole night and was just pretending to be shy and cute.”

Magnus laughed, “Oh my god, Catarina, if you saw the blushes on that man you would know that they were impossible to fake. It was adorable.”

“Magnus, you keep shooting down all of my ideas!” Catarina scolded, “I have one more though, what is this four? Five? Whatever, the only other explanation I can think of is that if he’s as shy as you say he is then maybe he freaked out. You’ve told me he’s some kind of recluse author, who knows the last time he had a man like you swooning over him. I bet he full on gay panicked and booked it out of there before he got in over his head.”

Catarina looked at Magnus knowingly, “You know I’m right.” Before Magnus could shoot back an answer, that maybe Alec was about to shit himself another round of mimosas and their food arrived. 

Magnus and Catarina each took a few bites of their food before Magnus started talking again, “Alright, say that you’re right Catarina, say he is really that shy, what do I do? Is that someone I could potentially date?” 

“I can’t answer that for you Magnus,” Catarina said kindly, “but I do know I haven’t seen you so animated talking about someone in forever. I want you to be happy.” She put one of her hands over Magnus.’ “You deserve happiness and if this man could bring you happiness, even for just a little while then I think it’s worth it to try again.”

Magnus dabbed at the corner of his eye with his napkin, careful not to smudge his eyeliner. He’d known Catarina had been worried about him after what Camille had done, but they hadn’t talked about it so candidly in a while. 

“Though if he runs away from you again just tell me and I swear I’ll find him and make him regret it!” Catarina slapped the table dramatically. Magnus broke into a hearty laugh, trying to imagine his tiny friend trying to defend his honor to the tall and broad author. 

He gave Catarina a smile, “It’s a deal!”

“Good!” Catarina was enthusiastically gesturing with her fork at Magnus, the bite of omelette threatening to fly off. “Get out your phone and text him! Tell him that you had a good time last night and even though it ended kind of weird you’d still like to see him again. That way he won’t feel as awkward about explaining himself to you.”

Catarina was right Magnus thought, he pulled out his phone and began to draft a message, but he quickly realized he never gotten Alec’s phone number. He left too quickly for them to even talk about seeing one another again. 

Magnus looked up at Catarina, “I don’t have his number!”

“Ah,” Catarina said, “well, that certainly makes things more complicated doesn’t it?”

***

Alec groaned when his alarm went off at 5:30, he’d finally gotten to sleep after tossing and turning for what felt like hours. There was no way he was going running with Jace right now.

Alec:

(5:31AM) Hey Jace, any chance we could meet to later? I need to get a few more hours of sleep.

Jace:

(5:34AM) were you out drinking last night!? Izzy txted me and said U went on a date?!?!

(5:35AM) im free to go later, wanna go before lunch? we should do a longer run tho

(5:36 AM) 14 miles??!!!!!

Alec:

(5:40AM) jesus, seriously Jace?

Jace:

(5:42AM) yup! if we’re going to do the half marathon in a few months we should try and see what our time is now. bro, itll be fun!

Alec:

(5:44AM) Fine. But I’m probably going to die. Meet at the bridge at 11?

Jace:

(5:47AM) 10:30!

(5:48AM) Have a good sleeeeep! 

Alec:

(5:50 AM) Ughhh fine, 10:30. I hate you sometimes

Jace:

(5:53AM) love u to bro! ;)

\--

Alec was gasping for breath by the time he and Jace made back over the Williamsburg bridge into Brooklyn. He’d thought he was relatively in-shape but apparently, he wasn’t. After mile nine Alec’s legs had started burning and by mile twelve his lungs had been burning. It was only the fact that he was still two miles away from home that kept him going.

Throughout all of it Jace had been annoyingly chipper, jogging ahead of Alec and coming back to run next to him, all the while keeping up a constant stream of chatter. It hadn’t taken long for Jace to wheedle the details of Alec’s night out of him and he’d spent the remainder of the two hours it took to complete the run giving Alec all kinds of “helpful” advice.

“You can say you were so overcome by his beauty you had to flee!”

“What if you act like a weird mysterious author and say that that moment with him caused you to have such a sudden burst of inspiration you needed to write it down immediately. I had an author do that to me the other week at the office.”

“Why don’t you just tell him you shit your pants? It’d explain your weird trip to the bathroom to text Izzy too.”

“Or say you have a phobia of kissing!”

“Jace,” Alec interrupted after another abysmal idea from Jace, “those are all terrible ideas. You have to know that right?”

Jace looked at Alec with a pretend look of dismay on his face, “What? I put a lot of thought into those!” Alec aimed a quick slap at his brother but Jace put on a burst of speed and left Alec swatting at air.

Jace jogged back to Alec after some time and said seriously, “Dude, you should just tell him the truth. Tell him you haven’t dated in a while and you panicked. Tell him you’re totally embarrassed by how you acted but that if he’s willing to take another chance on you then he should let you take him on a date. And then you can woo him!” Jace waggled his eyebrows dramatically.

Alec was silent as he thought about Jace’s words, telling the truth was probably the only option he had if he wanted Magnus to give him the time of day again. “Okay,” he said slowly, “Let’s say you’re right, I never got his phone number so it’s not like I can text him to say all of that.”

“Doesn’t Izzy have his number? Jace asked. “Just ask her, you know she’ll give it to you.”

“Definitely not, I can’t be even more of a weirdo than I already am,” Alec said shaking his head. “Maybe I’ll go back to his store this week to apologize.”

“Sounds like a plan bro!” Jace exclaimed and smacked Alec on the back. “Now can we pick up the pace? I’m not trying to be some super athlete, but I want to have at least nine-minute miles by the time we do the half-marathon this fall!”

Alec clenched his teeth and moved to keep up with his younger brother.

Some time later Alec followed as Jace turned right after the bridge, not registering that they weren’t en route to his apartment any more, he was just thankful that Jace had finally slowed to a cool down walk. He pulled his t-shirt off over his head, it was soaked with sweat, and tried to use it to dry his face, it didn’t work.

“Let’s grab a coffee while we’re here,” Jace’s said. Alec looked up to see Jace had steered them to Café Alicante.

Alec looked down at his bare chest and back up at Jace, “Seriously? Jocelyn will kill me if I go in without a shirt and I can’t put this thing back on.” He tossed his sweaty shirt at his brother, who caught it and glared.

Jace grumbled something about Alec being ridiculous, and then went into the café, returning a few minutes later with an old Café Alicante zip-up sweatshirt. It looked at least one size too small and someone had cut the arms off so that it was more like a vest. What kind of idiot did that to a sweatshirt?!

Alec reluctantly took the old garment and put it on, feeling self-conscious about the way it clung to his chest so tightly. Jace immediately started laughing. Alec gave his brother a quick shove, zipped his sweatshirt up halfway, and walked into Café Alicante.

Jocelyn was waiting for him on the other side of the door, she had a huge grin on her face. “I wasn’t sure if you were going to put it on!” She said with a laugh, “Do you recognize it?”

Alec looked down at the sweatshirt, it was ratty and had a patch on one of the front pockets. He looked more closely at the patch and recognized the depiction of Madonna from her “Like a Prayer” music video. “Oh my god, this is mine! I forgot how obsessed I was with that song, ugh, and why did I think it was cool to cut the arms off.”

Jocelyn pulled him in for a side hug and looked up at him, “Oh Alec, you were obsessed with more than just that song, you were crazy for anything and everything Madonna.”

Alec felt his cheeks heat up, he couldn’t help it, Madonna was _the_ original Queen of Pop! “Obsessed is maybe the wrong word Jocelyn, I’d say, an appreciative fan.”

Luke came over to them and pulled Alec in for a quick hug, “Are we talking about those six months Alec insisted we play nothing but Madonna in the café? I’m still not sure we’ll ever get back those customers we lost.”

Jace let out a loud laugh behind them and greeted Jocelyn and Luke, “The number of texts I got from Alec exclaiming over ‘the genius of Madonna’ must be in the hundreds.”

“Alright, alright, so I loved, actually, still love, Madonna. Whatever, if a gay man can’t love Madonna without question then I’m hanging with the wrong people.”

“Oh, honey we’re just teasing,” Jocelyn said as she reached up to try and fix his hair, Alec knew it had to be a disaster after his run with Jace. “Can I get you boys anything to drink? It looks like you’ve had a busy morning so far!”

“I wouldn’t say no to an iced coffee,” Jace said to Jocelyn, giving her a beaming smile.

“Uh, same for me,” Alec said. “Jace, I’m going to snag a table. Thank you so much for the sweatshirt Jocelyn, and the coffee.” He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and wound his way through the seats to his favorite table in the far corner.

Jace came over with their coffees after Alec had gotten settled in his seat facing the door. Jace started talking about the training they were going to need to do before the fall when the bell to the café rang over the door, out of habit Alec glanced up at the stranger who had just came in. The sun was shining through the door behind the man, but he looked very tall with dark hair spiking up in different directions. Alec’s heart gave a lurch, it couldn’t be.

***

Magnus and Catarina said their goodbyes outside of Tamra’s, Catarina had errands to run and Magnus felt like he needed to be outside for a bit. It was a perfect late-spring day and some fresh air wouldn’t hurt.

He headed off in the direction of the Williamsburg Bridge, there was a subway stop near Café Alicante and it was finally warm enough to have an iced coffee outside without looking ridiculous. And if he happened to see Clary Fairchild and if she happened to give him Alec’s number then so be it.

It took a moment after he pushed open the door to Café Alicante for his eyes to adjust so that he could see into café but as soon as they did he saw Alec Lightwood. The dark-haired man was sitting in the same spot that he’d been in when Magnus had first seen him, though this time he was sitting very close to an attractive young blonde man. Magnus’ stomach dropped, maybe the reason Alec had run away was because he was already seeing someone and felt guilty about almost kissing Magnus.

Alec seemed to hear Magnus’ thoughts and his eyes flicked up to meet Magnus,’ going wide when he recognized who was at the door. Magnus didn’t even hear Jocelyn call out a greeting before he turned on his heel and went back out through the door, iced coffee forgotten.

Magnus started walking blindly away. After his brunch with Catarina he’d allowed himself to feel some hope about seeing Alec again, he felt like such an idiot.

“Magnus!” He stopped walking at the voice and stood rooted on the sidewalk, he didn’t need to turn around to know that it was Alec. “Magnus wait, can I talk to you?”

Magnus spun around and plastered a smile on his face, “Oh why hello there Alec.”

Alec seemed to balk at the coldness Magnus knew was in his voice, he hadn’t meant to sound so cold but seeing Alec with another man stung. He knew it was ridiculous for Magnus to feel like this, it’s not like they were dating.

Alec crossed his arms across his chest as if to protect himself, which is when Magnus noticed what the man was wearing. It was a black zip-up sleeveless hoodie that showed off Alec’s toned biceps and the tattoos that Magnus had seen parts of the night before. It was only zipped up partway and gave a generous glimpse of Alec’s chest, the dark hair on it curling enticingly. He felt his mouth go dry at the sight and cursed himself for his weakness when it came to this man.

“Um, well, I wanted to apologize for last night. I don’t really have a good explanation for why I acted like that, except, uh, I haven’t really dated anyone in a while and I guess I panicked at the thought of...” He trailed off and then uncrossed his arms and ran a hand nervously through his hair, “It was fucking dumb and I’m an idiot. I’m so sorry Magnus. I know I don’t deserve to even talk to you again, but I had to tell you how sorry I am.”

Magnus looked at Alec’s sincere expression, his blue eyes wide and hopeful as they searched Magnus’ face for a sign of how he felt. Magnus dropped his gaze and noticed a patch on one of the pockets on the front of the hoodie, it was a vintage Madonna “Like a Prayer” patch. Magnus smiled, he loved that album.

He took a big breath and looked into Alec’s eyes, “Alright, say I forgive you, what happens next Alexander?”

Alec visibly relaxed, “Two things. First, I’d ask you out. I’d say pick any restaurant in the city and then I’d spend the whole night _not_ running away from you.”

Magnus smiled, “Sounds like a fair start.”

Alec blushed and glanced down at his feet before looking into Magnus’ eyes, a look of determination that Magnus hadn’t seen yet on the other man’s face, “I- I’d also do this.” Alec stepped forward until his face was inches from Magnus.’ Magnus froze.

Bringing one of his hands up Alec lightly cupped Magnus’ cheek, “I think I owe you from last night,” he breathed before leaning in and brushing his lips against Magnus’ own. It was a gentle kiss, Alec’s full lips soft and warm. He broke away, his eyes fluttering open to look at Magnus. “Was that okay?” He asked nervously, his bottom lip caught between his teeth.

“Mmm, yes,” Magnus started, before remembering why he was so upset when he’d seen Alec in the café, he had been with another man! He took a big step away from Alec and shook his head, “What am I saying, no,” Alec’s face fell at Magnus’ words, “I just saw you with another man, and don’t say you didn’t know him, you two obviously knew each other.”

“But Magnus –” Alec tried to begin.

“No, Alexander, I can’t do this. I can’t be someone’s side piece, been there, done that, and it fucking sucks.” Magnus couldn’t believe he’d almost let himself get so wrapped up in the idea of Alec.

“Magnus,” Alec said firmly, breaking Magnus’ train of thought. “That guy,” he gestured back down the block towards Café Alicante, “is my brother, Jace.”

“Oh,” Magnus said feeling suddenly foolish, “Well, um, forget everything I just said.”

Alec didn’t look like he was going to forget it any time soon, in fact he looked like he regretted coming after Magnus. Fuck. Magnus quickly moved forward and put one hand on Alec’s face, “Please,” he murmured, “forget it, seriously, I was being stupid. I’d love to go to dinner with you. And, I’d love to do this again.” Magnus tilted Alec’s face up slightly to catch his lips with his own.

Alec gasped in surprise before leaning in to the kiss, startling Magnus when he began to trace the outline of his lips with his tongue. Magnus hummed against Alec’s mouth at the sensation and parted his lips slightly, Alec’s tongue cautiously explored Magnus’ mouth deepening the kiss. Alec tasted like sweet coffee, the taste familiar yet invigorating. Magnus leaned into Alec and moulded his body to Alec’s, inhaling the intoxicating scent of the other man.

Alec brought his hand up to stroke Magnus’ face before slowly pulling back. Magnus opened his eyes feeling lightheaded from the kiss; Alec was looking up at him, a small smile on his lips. “So, uh,” he began before ducking his head adorably, “dinner then?”

Magnus chuckled and reached to brush Alec’s hair back from where it had fallen forward, “Yes. Are you free next Tuesday night?”

Alec looked up, “Really?”

“Alexander,” Magnus said with an amused smile, “of course really.

Alec broke into a big smile, “Okay. Tuesday is perfect for me. Where – ” Alec broke off as he was suddenly interrupted.

“Yo Alec!” He turned around and Magnus saw that the blonde man from the café was approaching them, an annoyed look on his face. “You literally got up and left bro, everything all good?” He stopped walking when he noticed Magnus standing behind Alec, his eyebrow shooting up.

“Jace,” Alec hissed, “I’ll be right back, I’m kind of in the middle of something.”

Jace put a big smile on his face and stepped closer to Alec and Magnus, “Sure thing big brother, but where are your manners?” He held out his hand to Magnus, “I’m Jace, Alec’s handsome, charming, and witty brother, and you are?”

Magnus laughed out loud and put his hand in Jace’s, “Magnus, Magnus Bane.” He watched Jace’s face light up in recognition.

“Magnus huh?” Jace started before Alec put a hand on his shoulder.

“Jace, I’ll be back to the café in a minute. Please leave.” Alec had turned a bright red. Magnus noticed the blush crept across his chest and Magnus’ mind began to wander towards thoughts of Alec Lightwood with a sex flush.

He forced his mind back to the situation at hand, Jace had turned and was grumbling to himself as he walked away. He suddenly turned around and looked at both Alec and Magnus, “Some advice,” Alec shook his head and gave Jace a meaningful look, Jace took a big step away from his brother and gave Alec a huge grin, “make sure you get each other’s numbers this time.” He winked dramatically at Alec and called “Nice to meet you Magnus Bane!”

Alec turned back to Magnus as Jace walked away, worrying his bottom lip with his teeth, his body tense. “So, um, that’s Jace, my brother. He’s…a pain.”

Magnus broke into a laugh, “He’s something alright! Though he does have a point Alexander, we should get each other’s numbers.”

Magnus pulled out his phone and opened a new message, he held it out to Alec. “It’ll make planning dinner easier if we don’t have to use carrier pigeons.”

Some of the tension in Alec’s shoulders left as he took the phone and typed in his number and sent himself a text. “You probably have a point. I’m pretty sure my cat would eat a carrier pigeon if he had the chance.” He handed the phone back to Magnus. “I, uh, should get back to Jace before he decides to interrupt again.”

He looked nervously up at Magnus’ face, “I’m really glad I ran into you today Magnus. Thanks for giving me second chance.”

“Me too,” Magnus smiled and bent to give Alec a quick peck on the lips. “See you Tuesday then?”

Alec nodded, a huge grin beginning on his face, “Yeah, Tuesday. See you then.” He moved back from Magnus and started walking back to Café Alicante.

Magnus couldn’t help himself as he checked Alec out as he walked away. Alec had apparently been working out, his running shorts showing long, muscular legs. The flimsy material did nothing to hide the taut athletic ass Magnus wanted to sink his teeth into.

He shook his head, he really needed to get laid, and turned to head to the subway, iced coffee long forgotten as he texted Catarina.

Magnus:

(2:03PM) OMG! Catarina! You’ll never guess what just happened!

Catarina:

(2:07PM) Magnus we just saw each other. What could have happened in thirty minutes?

Magnus:

(2:09PM) I ran into Alec at Café Alicante

(2:09PM) He asked me out to finner

(2:09PM) dinner*

Catarina:

(2:10PM) What?!

Magnus:

(2:10PM) AND we kissed ;)

(2: 11PM) it was goooooood!

Catarina:

(2:14PM) spare me the details Magnus

(2:15PM) but really I’m happy for you!

(2:16PM though if he breaks your heart I’ll break his face <3

Magnus laughed as he read the text, a spring in his step that had nothing to do with the good weather and everything to do with Alexander Lightwood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I'm so glad to have a Malec kiss in there (finally!). Don't worry, there will be plenty more of those to come ;) I'm hoping to have the next chapter out much quicker than this one, it's mostly done and just needs a dose of my obsessive editing haha.
> 
> Any comments, kudos, critiques, and general lovin's always appreciated. I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy xx


	6. The Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Are you bisexual then? Or am I the first man you’ve ever been on a date with?” Alec did the same lopsided grin he’d done before, Magnus’ heart fluttered. Alec really was adorable.
> 
> He laughed, appreciating Alec’s conversation change. “I like to consider myself a freewheeling bisexual.” Magnus gestured dramatically to himself, “Trust me, there is nothing heterosexual about the man you’re looking at.”

Unknown:

(1:54PM) Hi

Alec looked down at the text for the hundredth time, his stomach still fluttering. He had Magnus’ phone number, Magnus Bane’s phone number! He didn’t know what he was going to do with it, but he had it to maybe do something with someday.

The butterflies in his stomach seemed to morph into a herd of elephants as he thought about kissing Magnus earlier. It’d been so much better than what he’d been fantasizing about since he first saw Magnus nearly two months ago. Magnus’ lips were so much softer than he could have imagined, and when he’d pressed his body against Alec for just a moment Alec had felt the man’s toned body beneath his stylish clothes. It’d all left Alec aching for more.

He turned in his chair to look at his desk, he hadn’t even turned on his laptop. He’d alternated between staring out the window and looking at the text he’d sent himself from Magnus’ phone. Was he supposed to text Magnus first? He had asked Magnus out after all. But hadn’t he technically texted first? Albeit he texted himself from Magnus’ phone, but still, that counted right?

Alec sighed and moved to turn on his computer, he’d give Izzy a call after he wrote for a while. She still hadn’t texted him back after his text the night before and he was getting a little bit worried. It wasn’t like Izzy not to call and give him _all_ the details when she went out with someone, even details he really didn’t need to hear.

His phone buzzed on the desk next to his laptop, Alec glanced down at it, expecting to see another text from Jace full of kissing and eggplant emojis. He really couldn’t stand his brother sometimes. He balked, the message was from an unknown sender. Alec felt his heart beat in his throat as he unlocked his phone.

Unknown:

(5:57PM) Hi Alexander, it’s Magnus :)

(5:58PM) I’m glad we ran into each other earlier, just womdering if tues still works for you?

(5:58PM) wondering* oops, that’s embarrassing when texting an author lol

Alec chuckled to himself as he read the messages as they came in. Jace and Izzy were forever sending him grammatically incorrect texts, he’d stopped holding text grammar against his friends and family years ago. He quickly updated the contact in his phone before sending Magnus a response.

Alec:

(6:01PM) Hey Magnus, me too! Tuesday still works for me. Dinner, right? Do you have anywhere in mind? Like I said I’m good to go anywhere, you pick the place.

Alec paused a second before hastily typing another text, he pressed send before he lost his nerve, hoping he seemed more flirty and confident than he actually felt.

(6:02PM) And I mean anywhere, my books are pretty popular. People pay for gay erotica it seems ;)

Magnus Fucking Bane!!:

(6:04PM) haha is that so? Well, in that case would you want to get italian food? it’s a little pricy but there’s an amazing place in the village near the store

(6:05PM) unless you wanna go somewhere closer to you? you’re in brklyn right?

Alec:

(6:07PM) Amazing Italian food sounds right up my ally! I don’t mind coming to the Village at all :)

(6:07PM) What’s the place? Should I make a reservation?

Magnus Fucking Bane!!:

(6:09PM) no reservations, but i’ll handle getting us a table. i know the owners

(6:11PM) oh, and it’s Via Pomodoro

(6:11PM) shall we say 7?

Alec:

(6:14PM) 7 sounds perfect!

Alec was in the middle of drafting another message when his phone rang, Izzy’s face was looking up at him. Alec had a moment when he considered swiping ignore to finish his text but he decided he could use some Izzy advice right now.

“Izzy! I thought I was going to have to send out a search party! You never texted me back last night after that disaster with Magnus –” Alec was cut off when Izzy basically shrieked in his ear.

“Alexander Gideon Lightwood! You never texted me! I had to find out from Jace, our not so subtle brother, _Jace_ that things went tits up last night!” Izzy paused to take a deep breath before she plowed on, “And then, Jace, again _Jace_ , told me that you somehow kissed Magnus outside Café Alicante today?”

“Iz –” Alec tried to begin, Izzy quickly broke in, not allowing him to get a word in.

“Aleeeec, I thought we talked about everything?” She whined, “Finding things out secondhand from Jace sucks! He’s supposed to find out everything secondhand from _me_.”

“Isabelle Sophia Lightwood,” Alec said loudly, trying to make himself heard over Izzy’s rising voice. Church jumped down from his perch on a bookshelf and sulked out of Alec’s office, a peeved look on his squashed gray face, it wasn’t often that Alec raised his voice. “Izzy, listen to me. I one hundred percent texted you last night and I never heard from you. I just assumed you and Clary had a long night and you didn’t have time for my drama. I guess my text never went through when I was on the subway getting home?”

There was a beat of silence, “Huh, yeah, I definitely never got a text,” Izzy said much more calmly. “I just assumed things were going alright, and I was, uh, sorta busy most of the night…” Izzy didn’t finish her thought.

“Izzy! Wait, are you telling me you and Clary went home together?! Jocelyn told me and Jace that Clary wasn’t home, was she at your place _all_ night?! Are you two an item?!” Alec wasn’t surprised that his sister and Clary got along so well, he just hadn’t expected things to move so quickly between them.

“Alec!” Izzy interrupted, “I am _not_ talking about me and Clary right now…though she was definitely at my place all night,” Izzy chuckled. “But what happened with Magnus? Jace told me some ridiculous story about you two almost kissing last night and then you sprinting away like Usain Bolt? Please tell me that isn’t true.”

“Um, well, maybe, though not quite that fast,” Alec coughed, he still couldn’t believe he’d done that.

“Oh god, Alec, you did, didn’t you?” Alec could practically hear Izzy shaking her head at him. “I can’t believe that Jace is right, wait, does that mean you two kissed too? How did you go from an Olympic flee to macking the hottie who owns the bookstore?”

“Izzzzzy,” Alec groaned at Izzy’s candid description, “please, never say macking again.”

Izzy laughed, “No promises there big brother, now spill! Did you guys seriously kiss? Are you going to see him again?”

“Fine, yes, we kissed, and then Jace came over and acted like Jace.” Alec paused, “Well, he actually was the reason we got each other’s’ numbers, but that’s beside the point, we’re going to dinner on Tuesday night somewhere in the Village.”

“Alec!” Izzy exclaimed, “That’s so exciting!”

“Geez, don’t get so excited. You act like I never go on dates…” Alec mumbled. “It’s just been, a while.”

“Oh hush, you know it’s been ages!” Izzy admonished, “Where are you going? Somewhere fancy? Do we need to go shopping?”

“God, I hope not, I hate shopping,” Alec hadn’t even considered what kind of place Magnus would pick, he had told him to pick _anywhere_. “Um, it’s called Via something.”

“Via Pomodoro?” Izzy asked, “It’s in the village right off Christopher Street, I went a few years ago. It’s not too fancy but you definitely need something nicer than worn jeans and holy sweaters.”

“Noooooo!” Alec groaned, knowing full well that he was being dramatic, but he couldn’t help it; shopping was one of his least favorite things to do. “What if I just wear what I had on for the reading? That was pretty fancy right?”

Izzy broke out in loud laughter, Alec moved the phone from his ear and frowned at his iPhone. “Oh my god,” Izzy choked finally out, “fuck no, you wore a denim shirt with jeans.”

“And?” Alec demanded.

“And you need something a little more upscale than that if you’re going to Via Pomodoro! Also, Magnus seems like someone with a really good fashion sense, I think you should wear at least a button down and blazer, maybe some slacks?” Izzy had been trying to get Alec to take more of an interest in fashion for years. She frequently brought up the fact that she was the only person with a gay brother who didn’t have an automatic shopping partner.

“I draw the line at slacks,” Alec said, “but a button down and blazer would probably be okay to have. You know…in case I have to talk at people again”

“Wait, seriously? You’ll go shopping with me? Is this real? Am I dreaming?!” Izzy asked dramatically. “Oh my god, I need to make a shopping plan!”

“Don’t make me regret this,” Alec grumbled, but Izzy was already off on a tangent about her favorite vintage store that had just moved to a new location.

“Alright, meet me tomorrow at my place at eleven. I think that’ll give us enough time to find what we need.” Izzy said pensively.

“Fine, I’ll see you tomorrow then?” Alec didn’t want to sound ungrateful to his sister, but he really did hate shopping.

“Don’t be so dramatic Alec, we’ll have fun, I promise.” Izzy said before calling out a quick ‘I love you’ as she hung up.

“Love you too…” Alec said to the disconnected phone line. He shook his head as he pulled the phone away from his ear, what had he just agreed to.

***

Magnus checked his phone as he walked back to his loft from the store, he picked up his pace a bit when he saw that he was leaving much later than he’d intended. Oops. He needed all the time he could get to get ready for seeing Alec.

He’d gotten caught up in a discussion with a customer about the best butt plug. It was such a loaded question! Were they using it with a partner? Did they want it to vibrate? What size were they comfortable with? Was it for extended wear? Before Magnus had known it, he’d convinced the customer to buy three butt plugs plus a natural toy cleaner and a silicone safe lube. He smiled to himself as he recalled how excited the customer seemed as they left his store, there was nothing better than a happy customer!

He quickly unlocked his apartment and walked into the space full of natural light. He’d bought the loft a few years before and still hadn’t gotten over how much he loved his home. He’d decorated the space with warm colors, soft rugs, and shelves overflowing with beloved books. He turned and went to his bedroom at the back of the loft, he needed a shower before his date with Alec.

Magnus’ stomach fluttered at the thought of the handsome author. He had been trying not to get too excited about seeing Alec again, but memories of their kiss had played on repeat in his head since Saturday.

He put his phone on the white marble counter in his bathroom, his heart skipping a beat when he saw a text from Alec. Was he going to cancel their date?

Alexander:

(5:22PM) Hey Magnus, just wanted to say thanks again for the second chance after the other night. I’m excited to see you later :)

Magnus felt his muscles relax as the words sank in, Alec wasn’t canceling. He still needed to work on not always thinking the worst about people. Alec had simply texted to tell Magnus he was excited. He typed a quick response and got into the shower, an hour and some change would be cutting it close for dinner at seven.

\--

Chairman Meow looked at Magnus quizzically from his perch atop the pile of clothes on Magnus’ bed, jumping out of the way as a blue silk shirt came flying towards him.

“It’s pointless Chairman!” Magnus wailed as he pulled different shirts and pants out of his huge walk-in closet. “How can I have so many clothes but nothing to wear?”

Chairman Meow didn’t answer, he just stared at Magnus from his new spot in the doorway.

“You’re right,” Magnus said to the cat, “I just need to pick something.” He flicked through his hangars again, stopping at a blazer he hadn’t worn in a while. It was a deep red velvet embroidered with gold leaves, it’d been tailored to his frame and the look would go perfectly with the black fitted pants he’d decided to wear. He held it up to himself in the mirror, yes, it’d do just fine. He shifted through his shirts, deciding to just wear a simple off-white silk button down with black buttons.

Magnus put on the complete outfit and looked at his reflection, not too bad Bane. He put on a fresh layer of lip gloss and fixed the front of his hair so that the bronze streak he’d put in it on Sunday was more visible; grateful he’d picked a color that went so well with this outfit. Magnus grabbed a pair of loafers and started to walk towards his front door before realizing he’d forgotten to accessorize!

Chairman Meow leapt out of the way as Magnus spun on his heel and went to his dresser. He didn’t have a lot of time to figure out the perfect accessories, so he picked two golden necklaces to wear over the button down and grabbed a handful of rings and bracelets at random. Moving swiftly, he put them on as he left his apartment and started walking to Via Pomodoro.

The restaurant was a bit further than Magnus’ store, so Magnus kept up a brisk walk to ensure he’d get there early. He wanted to make sure that Diana and Gwyn had remembered to put aside a table for him tonight.

Diana Wrayburn and Gwyn Hunter were co-owners, co-chefs, and wives. They’d opened Via Pomodoro six years ago, after each owning successful restaurants on their own before they decided to open a restaurant together. The result was delicious Italian food and an ever-changing menu of fresh food.

Bane’s Erotica, Books, & Toys had hosted Diana and Gwyn for a book signing when they’d come out with a cookbook, _Transformative Kitchen_ , and Magnus had struck up a friendship with the slightly older women. When he’d called to see if they could keep a table open for him and a date on Tuesday night the two women had been practically giddy on the phone, promising him a romantic corner table.

As Magnus approached Via Pomodoro he felt familiar insecurities creeping into his mind. What if Alec didn’t show up? What if he did and then decided that Magnus wasn’t worth getting to know? What if he broke Magnus’ heart?

Magnus shook his head and cursed Camille as he tried to clear his thoughts. Camille had blatantly cheated on him months before their wedding, practically flaunting the other man to all their friends. When Magnus had confronted Camille, she had informed him that she’d been cheating on him for nearly their entire relationship. Magnus had been left heartbroken while Camille laughed the whole thing off.

Canceling all their wedding arrangements had been torturous; if Magnus hadn’t had the help and support of Tessa, Catarina, and his oldest friend Ragnor Fell, he didn’t think he could have gotten through it all.

Magnus pulled back his shoulders and strode purposefully into Via Pomodoro, determined not to let thoughts about Camille ruin his evening with Alec. Magnus smiled when he saw Diana walking towards him in her white chef’s uniform.

“Magnus! Look at you tonight, are you trying to impress someone?” She winked exaggeratedly.

Magnus chuckled and kissed Diana on each cheek, “Moi? I’m always impressive darling.”

Diana threw back her head and laughed. One of the things that Magnus adored about Diana was her ability to laugh with abandon. Her wife, Gwyn, was much more serious and the two of them made quite a pair when they were able to get away from their restaurant.

She wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes and hooked her arm through Magnus.’ “I picked out my favorite table for you and your mystery date,” she said leaning in conspiratorially as she walked Magnus toward a secluded corner table in front of a window. There was a small candle on the white table cloth and a vase with red roses in it. Magnus looked around and noticed that the rest of the tables each had seasonal spring flowers in the vases, colorful late blooming tulips and ranunculus, but no other roses. He smiled at the sweet gesture by Diana and Gwyn.

“Oh, hush Diana, you’ll see him soon enough!” He swatted Diana’s arm playfully and moved to sit down, “This is really perfect.” He motioned to the roses and gave Diana a big smile, “I appreciate everything you’ve done.”

Diana waved her hand dismissively and beamed at Magnus, “It’s nothing, that book signing you had at your store brought in more customers to the restaurant and sold more books than anything our publisher set up. We still owe you.” She gave him another wink and started walking back to the kitchen, “Oh, we set up a special meal with wine pairings for you two, I hope you brought an appetite!”

“You’re too much!” Magnus called after Diana with a grin as she disappeared behind the swinging kitchen door. He was still smiling as he looked at his phone for the time. It was 6:58PM, Alec wasn’t late. Yet.

Magnus crossed his legs and bounced his foot, his stomach starting to tighten again as he wondered if Alec was going to show. Was he being crazy to give him a second chance? He reached for his water glass and took a big sip, willing his brain to relax. Alec was a good guy…right?

***

Outside the entrance to Via Pomodoro Alec paced back and forth, tugging nervously at the collar of the shirt Izzy had convinced him to buy. “It’s the same color of your eyes Alec!” She’d exclaimed when he’d come out of the dressing room. He had reluctantly added the shirt to the pile of clothes that Izzy insisted were necessary additions to his wardrobe, two new pairs of jeans (“no holes or stains!”), three button-downs (“you really should have more than one good shirt in your closet”), and a dark gray blazer that Izzy told him he could “dress down with jeans or dress up with chinos,” whatever that meant.

Alec pulled his phone out and quickly read through the webpage he’d left open, trying to commit the information to memory. It was an article titled “How to Flirt with Finesse” and gave the reader five tips flirt with ease and show someone you were interested. Alec didn’t want a repeat of the other night and he intended to show Magnus just how interested he was in getting to know him…he just need a little help figuring it out.

Alec closed he eyes and quickly muttered the five tips to himself. “One, make friendly, lasting eye contact, and don’t forget to smile. Two, give compliments that go beyond looks, such as fashion, opinion on food, that sort of thing. Three, use appropriate touch to show interest (definitely don’t mention you’ve masturbated to the thought of him in the shower!). Four, use playful teasing to your advantage, without blushing like a fool! Five, read signals and take a hint, if we both want to kiss we should do that again.” He still couldn’t believe he’d gotten up the courage to kiss Magnus on Saturday, memories of it felt like it happened to someone else, Alec was eager to do it again.

“Alright Lightwood, you’ve got this.” Alec pushed open the door and was greeted by a friendly space with scuffed, but clean hardwood floors, large windows along one wall letting in the evening light, and small intimate tables. Alec looked around hoping to spot Magnus’ familiar face.

“Meeting someone?” a voice said to Alec’s right. He turned and was met by a tall dark-skinned woman wearing a chef’s uniform, she had a kind face and wore a big smile.

“Um, yeah actually, Magnus? Magnus Bane, I mean.” Alec felt like an idiot. Why would this woman know who he was talking about? He should have just said yes. He felt his cheeks heat up.

“Ah, you must be his mystery date then!” The woman sounded delighted, she put out her hand for Alec to shake, he took it awkwardly as she shook it and beamed at him. “Our Magnus really does know how to pick a looker!”

Alec’s face flushed as he choked out something that sounded like, “Thanks?” as the woman came closer to him and began to guide Alec towards the back corner of the restaurant. He glanced up and saw Magnus.

Alec’s breath caught as he took in the man. Magnus was sitting at a window table in the back corner of Via Pomodoro, framed in the setting sunlight streaming in the windows. The golden light setting off the color of Magnus’ skin and the colored streak in the front of Magnus’ hair gleamed brightly with the sun. As Izzy predicted, Magnus was impeccably dressed in an embroidered red and gold blazer, the golden leaves on the front and sleeves glinting in the evening light as Magnus moved to pick up his water glass, he hadn’t noticed Alec yet.

“Looks good, doesn’t he?” Diana’s voice brought Alec back to the moment, he hoped she hadn’t been talking to him the whole time, if she had he hadn’t heard any of it.

“Yeah,” Alec breathed, “he really does.” Alec wasn’t sure if Diana heard him, no longer caring when he saw Magnus looked up when Diana called his name. Alec watched his eyes skim over the woman and lock onto Alec.

Magnus stood up, a smile lighting his face, “Alexander, I’m so glad you came.” Alec almost thought he heard relief in Magnus’ voice, but he brushed it off, _he_ was the one relieved to see that Magnus showed up, there was no way that the confident Magnus Bane could feel similarly.

“I’ll be back with some wine,” Diana said, moving towards the kitchen. Alec didn’t answer, instead he willed himself to lock eyes with Magnus and step up to him, leaning up to kiss the slightly taller man on the cheek. He breathed in the smell of sandalwood, the scent bringing back the memory of their first kiss just a few days before.

“I’m glad _you_ came,” Alec chuckled as he stepped back and pulled out his chair to sit across from the spot where Magnus had just sat back down. “You look,” Alec paused looking at the gorgeous man across from him, “incredible,” he finished simply.

Magnus’ eyes flashed with amusement. “Oh?”

Alec felt himself begin to blush, shit, he’d meant to compliment something besides Magnus’ looks! It was just so hard to think straight (or would he think gay? Alec wondered idiotically for a moment), anytime he felt himself scrutinized by the kohl rimmed, brown-gold eyes.

“Um, yes? I mean, yes, you look great, really great, but, uh, I – I was actually talking about your clothes. They’re incredible.” Magnus’ brow furrowed slightly in confusion. Alec’s mind raced to try and get a handle on what he was trying to say. “Uh, what I’m saying is that, um, your clothes look incredible, you look incredible, and you look great?” Jesus fucking christ, Alec needed to stop talking! He slammed his mouth shut, willing the earth to open up beneath him.

Alec picked up his water glass for something to do and gulped down most of the icy drink, Magnus watched it all shaking with a quiet laughter. He reached across the table and put a hand on Alec’s arm. “Thank you for the compliments Alexander.” His eyes were glinting, it didn’t seem like Alec offended him in any way, yet.

Alec’s brain scrambled at the touch on his arm, Magnus hadn’t moved his hand. This had to count as “appropriate touch,” right? Magnus apparently knew the rules of flirting with finesse already. Alec cleared his throat and looked at the hand on his arm, Magnus’ nails were painted black with gold flecks, rings adorning many of his long fingers. Fingers Alec had definitely fantasized about. Fuck, he needed to keep his thoughts clean and on the conversation at hand.

Alec was saved from starting a new conversation by the approach of Diana, she was followed by a broad, square-jawed brunette, the other woman’s serious expression made all the more striking by her eyes, one a light blue and the other a deep brown. Alec’s brain scrambled for the word to describe her different colored eyes, heterochromia maybe? She was wearing the same white chef’s uniform as Diana. Neither woman was empty handed.

Magnus pulled his hand back and brightened when he saw the brunette, “Gwyn!” He exclaimed, “I was hoping you’d come out to say hello.” He smiled good-naturedly at the woman who finally cracked a smile and leaned down to kiss Magnus on the cheek.

“I had to get a look at the guy,” she jerked her head at Alec, “Di said he wasn’t bad to look at.”

“Gwyn!” Diana smacked Gwyn on the arm and then turned to look at Alec and Magnus, “Pardon my wife, she has no filter.”

Gwyn grumbled but patted Diana affectionately on the cheek and turned to leave, “I’m going to take my filter-less self back into the kitchen, I don’t trust our new line chefs on their own yet. Diana, you can tell them what they’re getting.”

Diana shook her head and sighed, watching Gwyn go, “She’s really a brilliant chef, but she’s so much better with food than people.” Diana sighed and gestured down at what she and Gwyn had brought out. “Alrighty, tonight we’ve prepared something special for you two. We have our new spring menu out, so you’ll be seeing lots of fresh vegetables.”

Reaching for their wine glasses Diana poured both Alec and Magnus a glass of white wine, “We’ve got a nice Sauvignon Blanc to go with our new spring crudité. The crispness of the wine should go well with the fresh vegetables. And this is no run of the mill crudité, you’ll see we’re pairing it with an excellent olive oil from Tuscany.” Diana stepped back and smiled down at them, “I’ll leave you to give this a try. Enjoy!”

Alec looked down at the plate of fresh vegetables in front of him, colorful carrots, thinly sliced radishes, and asparagus spears were all sat amongst other vegetables one would expect. There was a bowl full of a rich olive oil, sliced lemons, and a dish with sea salt nestled in with the vegetables. Alec wasn’t quite sure what to do. Alec looked up at Magnus to see the man looking at him.

“Full disclosure,” Magnus said, a huge grin threatening to break from behind his serious expression, “I had no idea what we’re in for tonight. Diana and Gwyn are a force to be reckoned with. But,” he gestured at the food in between them, “I can guarantee it will be delicious.”

Alec smiled at Magnus, “Fair enough, but, um, do you know how we’re supposed to eat this?”

Magnus laughed and reached for one of the lemon wedges, squeezing the juice to coat vegetables, he pinched some of the sea salt between his fingers and sprinkled it lightly over everything. He looked down at his work and smiled, absentmindedly licking the two fingers he’d used. Alec felt a jolt at the sight of Magnus’ tongue darting out to capture the lemon juice running down his thumb.

Magnus seemed to realize what he was doing, he looked up just in time to catch Alec ogling. Alec looked away, his cheeks heating up. Magnus laughed, “Alexander, I don’t know how much longer I can go without telling you how becoming the color pink is on you.”

Alec glanced back at Magnus, was Magnus making fun of him? He’d always blushed easily, a trait his siblings loved to poke fun at. Magnus’ face wasn’t mocking though, he was smiling broadly at Alec. Alec cleared his throat, “Ha, thanks I guess? But really it’s the fucking worst. I’m still surprised I didn’t blush during the reading on Friday.”

Magnus chuckled and move to start eating. Alec watched as Magnus used his fork to pick up some of the vegetables from the plate, dipping them in the olive oil before bringing them to his mouth. Oh! This was just like a veggie platter! Alec copied Magnus’ movement, savoring the crisp vegetables with the citrus from the lemon and the rich olive oil.

“Oh wow, this is actually really good,” Alec said without thinking. He cursed himself for sounding so uncultured. He knew Magnus couldn’t be that much older than him, four-years max, but Magnus gave off an air of sophistication that Alec found a little intimidating.

Magnus was kind enough not to laugh, instead he nodded, taking a sip of wine before saying, “Everything here is amazing, I enjoy cooking, but I could never make a veggie platter taste like this. Diana and Gwyn are both incredible chefs, but when they got together they each brought a few decades of culinary knowledge. Via Pomodoro is the brainchild of two amazing women.”

“They seem pretty remarkable,” Alec agreed, “how do you know them? I feel like I’m getting the VIP treatment being here with you.” Magnus smiled.

“They wrote a cook book together, _Transformative Kitchen_ , about four years ago. I met them when we did a book signing at my store. It’s a great cookbook, it shares a lot about Diana and Gwyn’s upbringings, Diana is trans and Gwyn comes from a very traditional catholic background so coming out was difficult, they both had to work hard to be taken seriously in the New York City restaurant game. Plus, the whole book is full of delicious recipes!”

“Oh wow, that’s amazing! I’ll have to get a copy. I think I know somewhere that’ll carry it.” Alec tried to give Magnus a flirtatious smile, the result was a lopsided grin. He picked up his wine and tried to hide his embarrassment behind the glass.

“I would be happy to set aside a copy for you, and anything else in the store that might catch you eye.” Alec choked on the sip of wine he’d just taken. Alec had a feeling Magnus meant more than just the books in the store, the glint in Magnus’ eyes was far from innocent.

***

Magnus bit back a laugh as he watched Alec try to play it cool after his comment, he couldn’t help it. There was something so genuine and innocent about Alec that Magnus found refreshing. Camille had been the complete opposite, always playing games and manipulating those around her. It took months after they split-up for Magnus to realize how deep he’d been in it all, it’d taken even longer for Magnus to stop blaming himself for what Camille had done.

Magnus was pulled out of his thoughts by a tentative hand on his own hand, he looked down in surprise, Alec’s pale skin contrasted with Magnus’ own bronze coloring. Magnus liked how they looked together. Alec gave Magnus’ hand a squeeze, “Everything okay? You went away for a second there.” He said it so gently, no sign of the blushing, stammering man Magnus had come to expect.

Magnus cleared his throat, “Ah, sorry about that, I was just thinking…” Magnus let the sentence trail off, talking about exes on a first date was a good way to ensure a second date didn’t happen.

Alec was looking at him with his piercing blue eyes, his slim cut button-down the same shade of blue. Alec worried his bottom lip between his teeth before getting a look of resolve on his face, “Can I ask you something Magnus? No pressure to answer.”

“Um, okay?” Magnus wasn’t sure he liked Alec’s tone but decided that he’d at least hear the other man out.

“So, uh, the other day, outside of Café Alicante, you seemed pretty upset when you thought I was there with Jace, like on a date.” Alec took a deep breath, Magnus wasn’t entirely sure where Alec was going with this, but he stayed silent, letting Alec collect his thoughts, “Um, well you said something about not wanting to be someone’s side piece,” he paused, “again. I was just, um, just wondering about that?” Alec rushed on before Magnus could open his mouth, “I know we just met so don’t feel like you need to answer.”

Magnus looked into Alec’s sincere face and saw no judgement there, Magnus hadn’t shared what happened with many people besides his closest friends, but there was something about Alec that made him want to give him an answer.

Magnus turned his hand over under Alec’s and gave his hand a squeeze, “It’s a fair question, I’d probably wonder the same thing if someone had a little freak out like that after we kissed.” Magnus chuckled weakly and looked down at their linked hands, “I was engaged two years ago, things ended badly, really badly. I found out she had been cheating on me for our entire relationship, she laughed about it when I confronted her and basically called me a naïve idiot for not noticing sooner.” Magnus looked up from their hands, Alec’s face held nothing but kindness, “It’s made trusting new people a bit difficult, I honestly haven’t dated all that much since then...” Magnus trailed off, letting the sentence hang between them.

“I’m sorry that happened to you,” Alec said earnestly, “nobody deserves to be treated like that by someone they love and trust. I would have a hard time letting new people in too if I were you.”

Magnus had expected kindness from Alec, but the empathy he felt from Alec was almost overwhelming. Magnus gently moved his hand from Alec’s grasp, the moment feeling too intimate. Alec sensed the shift in the mood and pulled his hand back. He glanced out the window, looking lost in thought. When he looked back at Magnus he had a playful smile on his face.

“Are you bisexual then? Or am I the first man you’ve ever been on a date with?” Alec did the same lopsided grin he’d done before, Magnus’ heart fluttered. Alec really was adorable.

He laughed, appreciating Alec’s conversation change. “I like to consider myself a freewheeling bisexual.” Magnus gestured dramatically to himself, “Trust me, there is nothing heterosexual about the man you’re looking at.”

Alec laughed, “Freewheeling bisexual? I like that. I’ll have to tell Izzy about that, she’s bi too.” He smiled to himself before saying, “Gay. Me, I’m gay. Just men for me.” He shrugged his shoulders.

“Works for me!” Magnus snorted, he held up his wine glass, gesturing for Alec to do the same. “To freewheeling bisexuals and gays!”

Alec clinked his glass with Magnus enthusiastically, “I’ll drink to that!”

\--

The rest of the dinner passed too quickly, the conversation between Alec and Magnus flowing easily and the food incredible. Diana and Gwyn had really outdone themselves, Magnus was going to have to send them a thank you card.

After the crudité, Diana and Gwyn brought out braised artichokes with tomatoes and mint. Alec had closed his eyes when he first tasted the tender artichoke, chewing slowly he’d let out the most erotic, “mmmm,” that Magnus had ever heard. The sound going straight to Magnus’ head as he thought about ways to get to Alec make the sound again.

Magnus must have been staring because when Alec had opened his eyes and seen Magnus’ face he flushed immediately and mumbled something about appreciating good food.

“I’ll give you whatever you want if I get to hear that sound again,” Magnus said with a wink, practically purring. He knew it would just make Alec blush harder, but he couldn’t help himself, there was something about the man that Magnus found irresistible.

Alec started choking at Magnus’ words, and moved to chug a glass of water. He looked at Magnus with watery eyes, “Oh wow, I mean, yeah.” He paused and glanced down at his plate, he brought his eyes back up to meet Magnus,’ “Uh, yeah, I’d like that.” He turned red at the words and started eating again.

Magnus smiled, he wasn’t sure why Alec got embarrassed so easily by any sort of innuendos (especially since the man wrote some _truly_ erotic books), though he had a feeling Alec didn’t get out and date too often.

The main course Diana and Gwyn prepared for Magnus and Alec was incredible. They came out of the kitchen carrying two aromatic plates, one with Magnus’ favorite pasta dish and another that Magnus didn’t recognize.

“We realized that Magnus didn’t tell us if there was anything you don’t eat so this,” Diana gestured to the pasta dish as she put it down on the table, “is vegetarian, a lemon risotto.”

Gwyn stepped forward and put the other large plate in the middle of the table, “And if you do eat meat then you’ll love this, it’s rigatina, charred pork belly with balsamic glazed Cipollini onions.”

“Oh fuck,” Magnus said looking at Alec, “I’m sorry I completely forgot to ask if there was anything you don’t eat.”

“No worries, I’ll eat anything,” Alec said easily. “This all looks amazing, thank you so much.” He smiled up at Diana and Gwyn, Diana beamed back at Alec, obviously enamored with him, Gwyn didn’t smile as easily as her wife, but Magnus swore he saw the corner of her mouth twitch upwards.

Both the risotto and rigatina were incredible, Alec and Magnus decided to share the two dishes, at first serving individual helpings onto their small plates. After unsuccessfully scooping pasta onto the plate Alec looked at Magnus and asked, “Are you okay with just sharing off the big plates? I think it’ll be easier than trying to scoop onto these.” He held up the tiny plate, “What are these even for?”

Magnus smiled, “They’re for the bread and olive oil,” he pointed at the basket on the table, “but sharing sounds fine with me.” Magnus paused and looked seriously at Alec, “Your cooties don’t scare me Alexander.”

Alec laughed, he had such an infectious laugh that made Magnus want to laugh too. So, he did.

By the time Diana brought out dessert, a rich dark chocolate semifreddo, with the small cups of espresso Magnus and Alec requested, the two men were rosy-cheeked from all the wine pairings that had come out with each dish and the restaurant was almost empty. Alec had tentatively reached out and put his hand on Magnus,’ and was rubbing the back of his knuckles with his thumb. The sensation sent shivers down Magnus’ back.

They shared the frozen chocolate dessert in a comfortable silence, occasionally glancing at one another and smiling. Magnus couldn’t remember ever feeling so at ease with someone while on a first date.

Diana and Gwyn came over to their table after they finished their dessert and espresso. “How was everything tonight?” Diana asked, she was trying to hide a smile as she looked down at their joined hands.

“Incredible,” Alec said, “This was honestly the best Italian food I’ve ever had.”

Gwyn looked at Alec and smiled broadly, “I guess you’ve got good taste, I mean – h”

Diana cut in before her wife said something that could have been perceived as rude, “Of course he does! Look who he’s here with.” She gave Magnus’ shoulder a quick squeeze.

He smiled up at Diana, her dark hair was starting to gray at the temples, but she was still a stunning woman. “You’re too sweet darling. Do you have a check for us?”

Diana pretended to look surprised by his request, “Check? For you?” She turned to her wife, “Gwyn do we have one for Magnus?”

Gwyn wasn’t playing any games, she scoffed, “We don’t. We’ve been trying to get Magnus to have a meal on the house since we went to his store years ago.”

Magnus was stunned, “Oh no, Diana, Gwyn, this was more than just a meal on the house, please –”

Diana cut him off, “Nope! It’s been years, we owed you a meal, with interest.” She smiled, “Just accept that it’s taken care off, we’ll let you pay next time.”

Alec looked between Diana and Magnus, “Uh, so, we’re good?” He had his wallet out, a beat up brown leather bi-fold, and looked confused.

“Apparently,” Magnus shrugged.

“Can I still leave a tip?” He was looking at Gwyn, she nodded at him.

Magnus stood up to embrace the two women, “You are both too kind for your own good, I hope you don’t give free dinners to all of your patrons.”

Gwyn guffawed, “Hell no!” Diana smacked her on the shoulder and Gwyn laughed even harder.

Alec stood up too after discreetly putting a stack of bills on the table, Magnus could tell it was far more than Alec needed to tip. Apparently, Alec wasn’t lying, his books were selling.

“Everything was delicious,” Alec said extending his hand to Diana, she ignored his hand and gave Alec a quick hug. He seemed pleased at the sudden affection. “Uh, thank you.”

Gwyn didn’t hug Alec, but she took his extended hand between both of hers as she said, “You’re welcome back anytime, especially if you bring this one.” She nodded at Magnus.

“Oh yeah, definitely, of course,” Alec started to ramble before seeming to catch himself. He turned slightly pink before saying, “Yes, I’d like that.”

Gwyn smiled and patted Magnus on the shoulder before turning back to the kitchen, “C’mon Di, we’ve still got to make sure that the new kid preps the kitchen right for tomorrow’s lunch.”

Diana rolled her eyes but looked after Gwyn affectionately, “Well you heard the boss, I’ve got to go. Come back soon okay?” She looked at Magnus and then at Alec, “Both of you.”

The two men walked back to the front of the restaurant and out into the cool night air. At some point it’d gone from evening to nighttime. The streets were less busy, no longer full of tourists but instead scattered with the colorful people who inhabited New York’s West Village. Magnus loved it here.

Magnus looked to his right were Alec was standing, quietly taking in his surroundings. He could practically hear the man writing words to the scene around him.

Alec turned to face Magnus, a shy smile on his face. “Would you like to go for a walk?” Before Magnus could open his mouth to answer Alec plowed on, “I mean, you don’t have to, I just figured if you weren’t sick of me we could, uh, walk to Washington Square Park or something…”

Alec stopped talking when Magnus put his ringed pointer finger on Alec’s lips, “I would love to.”

Alec smiled under Magnus’ finger, “Okay.” He frowned slightly, “Uh, which way is it?”

Magnus stepped to Alec’s side and hooked his arm through Alec’s. “Don’t forget, I’m always happy to take control Alexander.” Magnus watched Alec to see if he recognized the words Magnus had said the last time he guided them somewhere.

“Oh, man, uh, yeah.” Alec gulped and let Magnus guide him to the park. “That, uh, definitely works for me,” Alec finished after a pause.

Magnus looked at him and Alec gave him the crooked smile that made Alec’s eyes crinkle at the sides and Magnus’ stomach do somersaults. Chill, Magnus told the feeling, this is a first date, this could all mean nothing. As he thought the words though, he hoped with all his hope that that wasn’t true, he wanted this to mean something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter! As always, any comments, critiques, kudos, and general lovin's are always appreciated (seriously, I cannot tell you how much joy it brings me to know that there's someone out there enjoying what I write!). Stay safe and healthy out there everyone xx


	7. The Park was a Cemetery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "There are about 20,000 bodies buried under Washington Square Park you know.”
> 
> Magnus turned and looked at Alec, his perfect eyebrows shooting up to his hairline. “What?”
> 
> Fuck, what a stupid thing to say, now he sounded crazy. “I mean they’re old.” Magnus released Alec’s arm and was staring hard at him now, “I mean old like they were buried in the 1800s. The park was a cemetery…” Alec trailed off, why had he brought up something so weird?

Alec looked nervously over at Magnus, he was chatting away good-naturedly, pointing out the Stonewall Inn and other historical LGBT+ sites as they walked leisurely down the sidewalk to Washington Square Park. Magnus had kept his arm hooked through Alec’s, the heat coming off his body made Alec lean in towards him subconsciously.

At least that’s what he told himself. It had nothing to do with the fact that Magnus smelled like sandalwood and something else, a headier scent that Alec couldn’t quite place but that made him feel lightheaded. Nope, definitely not that.

Alec’s train of the thought was broken by Magnus, the taller man was looking at him bemusedly. “Uhhhh,” Alec said lamely. He had no idea what Magnus had just been saying. Had he asked a question?

Magnus quirked his eyebrow up at Alec, “Am I boring you Alexander?”

Alec shivered, the way that Magnus said _Alexander_ affected him way too much. “No, no, definitely not. You’re anything but boring Magnus.” Alec said, hoping to come off cool and easy going, and not the spaz he was feeling like right now. “I was just wondering what, uh, cologne you use. It smells really good.” Alec held his breath and hoped Magnus didn’t ask why Alec had been smelling him.

Magnus just laughed, “Oh, thanks! No fancy cologne. It’s just a sandalwood soap I buy in Queens, I think it has patchouli essential oils in it too.” Magnus smiled down at Alec, “But I’d been asking if you’ve been to the Village during Pride? Christopher Street is really incredible to witness. We always do something big at the store, I think you’d have a great time.”

Alec grinned back at Magnus, “I can’t say I’ve come all the way to the village, it always seemed a bit crowded for me. I normally just watch it from somewhere along closer to Midtown with Izzy since she lives up that way. But maybe I’ll try and come around Christopher Street this year...” Alec let his sentence trail off, he didn’t want to assume anything, this was a first date after all, but it had almost sounded like Magnus was inviting him to celebrate Pride at his store.

Magnus squeezed Alec’s arm tightly, “Yes! The store is only a few doors down from Stonewall, it’s the best spot to watch the parade. I’d love to have you there.”

Magnus was beaming at Alec, there was no mistaking it, it definitely sounded like he was inviting Alec to celebrate Pride with him. And Pride was still a month away, so was Magnus thinking they’d still be seeing each other in a month?

“I’d love that,” Alec finally responded. He needed to get out of his head and be a better conversationalist. He looked around for something to start talking about, they were about to reach the park and Alec’s mind scrambled up a fact Izzy had told him years ago. “There’s something like 20,000 bodies buried under Washington Square Park you know.”

Magnus turned and looked at Alec, his perfect eyebrows shooting up to his hairline. “What?”

Fuck, what a stupid thing to say, now he sounded crazy. “I mean they’re old.” Magnus released Alec’s arm and was staring hard at him now, “I mean old like they were buried in the 1800s. The park was a cemetery…” Alec trailed off, why had he brought up something so weird?

Magnus started shaking, Alec spared a glance, Magnus was shaking with barely contained giggles.

“Oh my god, Alexander I swear for a minute there I thought you were the most prolific serial killer ever and I was going to be buried in Washington Square Park!” Magnus’ voice cracked as he nearly bent over laughing.

Alec stared at Magnus for a moment before he broke into a fit of laughter too. He wasn’t sure how much of it was relief that Magnus hadn’t run away or if it really was funny that Magnus thought for a moment Alec was a serial killer. He took in a gasping breath and wiped tears from his eyes, both probably.

“Alright, well now we’ve established that you’re not a serial killer,” Magnus began.

Alec quickly cut in, “I can barely stomach the sight of blood! I would be such a terrible serial killer!”

Magnus chuckled, “Exactly, we’ve established that you’re not a serial killer, so I’m safe for now. Should we continue with our walk? Washington Square Park is so quiet at night. No tourists,” he smiled.

Alec felt some of the tension in his shoulders relax, “No tourists,” he repeated, “just how I like my two-hundred-year-old cemeteries.” He looked at Magnus and did his best at a wink. Magnus smiled broadly back at him and they took off towards the arch on the far side of the park.

They walked along in amicable silence, their swinging arms occasionally brushing their hands against one another. Each time one of Magnus’ ringed hands touched Alec’s he felt an overwhelming desire to reach out and lace his fingers through Magnus.’ He somehow managed to keep his hands to himself but his mind was racing, there was something about Magnus that made Alec want to tear down all the defenses he’d put up over the years to protect himself. Defenses that had kept him from letting new people in. Defenses that had taken the idea of his virginity and warped it into something to be ashamed of.

He took a deep breath, he should tell Magnus. It was only fair after Magnus had shared about his ex-fiancé. “Magnus, I – ”

“Alexander,” Magnus began at the same time Alec started talking.

Alec smiled at Magnus, “You first.” At least he’d have a minute to compose his thoughts.

Magnus stopped walking and gave Alec a small smile, “Alright then, I just wanted to thank you for being so understanding earlier when I brought up Camille,” at Alec’s confused expression at the name he clarified, “my ex.”

“Oh, yeah, of course, no problem,” Alec wasn’t sure where Magnus was going with this.

Alec watched Magnus’ face tense slightly, “I’ve had a really great time with you Alexander,” Alec felt a giant _but_ hanging in the air, his breath caught in his throat. Magnus pressed on, “It’s just that I haven’t really dated anyone seriously since then and I don’t want to rush into anything.”

Alec didn’t respond, he still wasn’t sure what Magnus was getting at, “I was, uh, was hoping that you wouldn’t have any problem with us taking things slowly? Physical things I mean.” Magnus’ kohl-rimmed eyes searched Alec’s face for a sign of what he was feeling.

Alec let out the breath he’d be subconsciously holding, he kept his face from breaking into the relieved smile he was feeling inside. Magnus wanted to take things slowly! That was perfect, he wouldn’t have to tell him anything _yet_.

Magnus was looking at Alec, awaiting his response. “Oh! That’s gre –, I mean, that’s fine.” Magnus still looked tense, as if not believing that Alec could so easily have sex taken off the table for the time being. Ha, Alec thought drily to himself, if he only knew how long sex had been off the table for him. Alec reached out and put both of his hands on Magnus’ arms, squeezing them gently. “Really, Magnus, it’s no big deal,” he smiled.

“Seriously?” Magnus said disbelievingly. He shook his head slightly back and forth, “Well, that went easier than I thought it would. And,” Magnus pressed on, his usual confident smile back on his face, “this isn’t a forever thing, I just want us to get to know each other better before we take that step.”

“Yep. Not a problem at all.” Alec gave Magnus’ arms another squeeze and smiled back at him before dropping his arms and starting to continue their walk.

Magnus hooked his arm through Alec’s as he had when they first left the restaurant, he leaned into Alec’s side and put his mouth next to Alec’s ear, “Thank you Alexander.”

The breath against Alec’s ear sent shivers down his spine, this time instead of running from the feeling in his chest he went towards it. Alec stopped walking and turned his face so that Magnus’ lips were just inches from his own. He could feel Magnus’ breath as he leaned across the space that separated them and softly pressed his lips against Magnus.’

Magnus made a small sound in the back of his throat as their lips met, pressing harder into the kiss. Magnus’ soft lips moved expertly, shifting the angle of the kiss as he brought his hand up to cup Alec’s jaw and tilt it up. Alec gasped when he felt Magnus’ tongue slide along the seam of his lips, as if in question. Alec greedily parted his lips, happily letting Magnus explore his mouth with his tongue. Alec put his hands on Magnus’ hips, trying to ground himself, inadvertently pulling Magnus’ body closer against him. 

Magnus was warm against his, his lean body was firm and fit perfectly against Alec.

Much too soon Magnus slowly pulled away with a smile, shaking his head drunkenly. He started to guide them along the paved park paths, “I don’t know what it is about you Alexander, but I seem to lose my head around you.”

Alec knew the feeling, there was a pull between the two men he couldn’t explain. He gave a half smile to Magnus. “Ditto,” he said, before feeling his face turn red. He might as well have just said neat! “Fuck, who even says ditto?”

“Demi Moore,” Magnus replied quickly. At Alec’s confused expression he clarified, “In _Ghost_.” He smiled sheepishly to himself, “I may have had a Patrick Swayze phase growing up.”

Alec grinned at Magnus, feeling less like an idiot for saying ditto now. “Oh, I completely understand. _Dirty Dancing_ was all Izzy and I watched one summer when I was like 10. We spent hours in Central Park trying to perfect the jump.” 

Magnus was staring at Alec, “And?”

“And what?” Alec responded, not sure what Magnus was getting at. 

“And did you do it? Did you get the jump down?” Magnus’ hand was gripped tightly to Alec’s arm.

“Oh! Uh, yeah, I think we got it a handful of times before we decided to show our parents. Somehow, they hadn’t noticed that we had been watching the movie a few times a week so when we dragged them down to the park with a boom box and our youngest brother, Max, to watch us they were completely shocked.” Alec smiled at the memory, “I mean we had most of the dance routine down, though a way more PG brother-sister version.”

Magnus was laughing, his body shaking gently against Alec’s side. “I even tucked a black button-down shirt into some black pants and slicked back my hair.” Alec laughed, “I’m still not sure how my parents missed that I was gay.”

“I’m sure they feel like idiots now,” Magnus laughed. Alec felt like he’d been punched in the gut, he stopped laughing and took a deep breath. Magnus must have felt him stiffen up because he pulled them to a stop and turned Alec towards him, a serious expression on his face. “Alexander?”

He said Alec’s name like a question, concern filling his eyes. Alec closed his own eyes for second, opening them he forced himself to smile at Magnus. “Sorry, I, uh, don’t usually talk about my parents. They disowned me when I came out and we haven’t spoken in over a decade now.”

“Oh fuck, I’m sorry for saying –” Magnus started before Alec cut him off.

“There’s no way you could have known it was a shitty subject,” Alec gave Magnus a wry smile. He _really_ didn’t want to talk about his parents right now, he quickly shifted gears, “Clary’s parents are more like parents to me.” Alec’s smile became more genuine at the mention of Jocelyn and Luke, “Clary and I went to high school together and when I got kicked out they let me stay with them until I got a room to rent and gave me a job at the café, so I could afford it. _They_ weren’t at all surprised when I told them I was gay.”

Magnus was still looking at Alec with concern, but the corner of his mouth quirked up, “They do seem to adore you, though that doesn’t seem too hard to do.” Alec looked away, a smile on his face as he blushed at the compliment. “Speaking of Café Alicante and Jocelyn, I have something to confess to you Alexander.”

Alec looked back at Magnus and tried to keep his face calm, though it felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest, he had a feeling what Magnus was going to say. “O-okay, what is it?”

“I think we’ve met before, at Café Alicante in April,” Magnus looked sheepish at the confession. “No worries if you don’t remember, I’m pretty sure you were writing, you seemed pretty concentrated on your laptop…” Magnus trailed off.

“Oh, I remember,” Alec rushed, “You’re unforgettable Magnus.” Alec heard the words come out of his mouth before his brain could filter them. He groaned, “Fuck, I sound like a character in one of my books.”

Magnus laughed and put his head on Alec’s shoulder, he looked up at Alec and batted his dark eyelashes, “Unforgettable, huh?”

“Something like that,” Alec mumbled. Magnus’ styled hair was tickling his chin, but he didn’t want Magnus to move from the spot.

They walked along like that for a while, Magnus’ head resting gently on Alec’s broad shoulder, his arm looped through Alec’s, their bodies close. Alec had had relationships before, but he’d never experienced casual intimacy like this. Magnus was so affectionate and touchy, Alec loved it!

Alec broke the silence, “Um, so when you saw me at the café I hadn’t been able to write anything for months and I was there trying to get a change of scenery. And then I saw you and I couldn’t think of anything but how,” he paused, he didn’t want to tell Magnus he’d thought some very dirty things about him. “Uh, how cool you seemed. I actually got out of my writing rut and finally started working on my next book.”

Magnus moved his head off Alec’s shoulder, Alec felt the loss immediately, but Magnus’ shining smile at him was worth it. “Like a muse? Oh my god, I’ve always wanted to be a muse!”

Alec laughed, at least Magnus didn’t think it was weird, though he didn’t know how much Alec had based a character on him yet. “I’ve never had a muse before so I’m not sure how it works, but yeah I suppose so.”

Magnus beamed, “Well, I obviously expect a mention in the acknowledgments at the end. Something like, “A special thank you to my muse, Magnus Bane, the formerly mysterious man who cured my writers block and likes to make me blush because he thinks it’s cute.””

Alec laughed but felt his face heat up all the same, Magnus was laughing too, “I’m sorry Alexander, I can’t help it!” Magnus put one of his hands on Alec’s warm cheeks and then leaned in to brush his lips against Alec’s.

Alec gave Magnus a look that he hoped came across as flirty, “Keep it up and I’m going to find out what makes you blush Magnus.”

Magnus laughed loudly, “Oh darling, I’m excited to see you try.”

A loud vibration sound came from Magnus’ pocket, he was still smiling when he pulled out his phone to see who it was, “I’m sorry, I just want to make sure it’s nothing work related.” He unlocked the screen and read the screen. Alec looked around the park, they were close to the marble arch and large fountain, the lighting made the white marble glow in the night with the city skyline behind it. The sounds of the city were faded against the sound of the fountain, it felt like he and Magnus were the only two people in the world right now.

“Fuck, Alexander, I’m so sorry to do this but Tessa said she has food poisoning and can’t be at the store tomorrow to open. We have longer hours during Pride month, so I need to be at the store earlier than usual to cover for her. Fuck, I’m going to have to head home so that I can get some sleep.” Magnus was still holding his phone and looked at Alec with a frown, “I wish we could continue this longer, but let’s plan to see each other again soon?”

“Yes!” Alec mentally cringed at how eager he sounded, “I mean, yeah, that’d be cool.” He pulled out his phone for something to do with his hands and saw that it was well after midnight. “Whoa! It’s almost quarter to one!” He swiped aside all the texts from Izzy, Clary, and Jace, he’d look at those later, and looked up at Magnus, “When did it get so late?”

Magnus shrugged, “Time flies I guess.” He smiled at Alec and they started towards the sidewalk that led them back to the bustling New York streets.

“I had a great time tonight,” that food was amazing, I’ll need to go back there for sure,” Alec said once they’d stopped on the sidewalk to say goodbye, he forced himself to hold Magnus’ warm gaze.

Magnus’ golden-brown eyes looked back at Alec, “I’m really glad we did this, and thank you for be okay with taking things slow.” Magnus said echoing their conversation from earlier, as if checking to make sure Alec had meant it when he said that he was fine with waiting.

“Like I said, no big deal, I’m happy to get to know each more,” Alec said with a smile.

“If you say so,” Magnus still didn’t sound convinced, but he moved to embrace Alec. Alec let the slightly taller man wrap his arms around him and brought his arms up to hold Magnus tight. He pulled away and looked at Alec, “We have each other’s numbers now so there’s no excuse not to plan something.”

Alec chuckled, Jace was never going to let Alec forget that he’d been the one who told them to exchange numbers. “I can’t wait. Bye Magnus.” Alec watched as Magnus walked away before catching himself drooling at the sight of Magnus’ ass in his tight black pants. Magnus Bane’s ass might be the death of him, he thought dramatically as he walked to the subway station.

***

Magnus couldn’t concentrate the next day at the store, he kept thinking about the kisses he and Alec had shared during their walk and the way conversation had flowed so easily between them all night. His stomach felt like it was doing flips, he was feeling giddy he realized, _giddy_ , like a middle schooler!

He laughed out loud before looking quickly around the store to make sure there weren’t any customers nearby, it was still early in the day and he was rearranging the BDSM section. He placed _The Little Guide to Getting Tied Up: Tips for Rope Bondage Bottoms_ next to a display of different kinds of rope and hummed “S&M” by Rihanna.

His phone chimed from the back pocket of his light blue jeans, he put a final copy of the book out and looked at his phone. Catarina had started a group chat with him, Tessa, Ragnor, and Raphael. Magnus shook his head, while he loved all his friends dearly it was always a shitshow when they tried to have group chat.

Catarina Loss:

(9:34AM) has anyone heard from M about his date with that erotica guy?

Oh god, Magnus thought, Catarina was opening a can of worms. He hadn’t told everyone about the date he’d had last night yet.

Ragnor “Dear Little Cabbage” Fell:

(9:35AM) Erotica?

(9:35AM) Is Magnus exploring a career in porn?

Raphael S:

(9:36AM) Please, I don’t want to hear about Magnus’ porn career.

Catarina Loss:

(9:37AM) LOLOLOLOL

(9:37AM) noooooo the guy writes erotica!

Tessaaaa:

(9:38AM) omgg please chill with the group chat

(9:39AM) im dying right now

Ragnor “Dear Little Cabbage” Fell:

(9:40AM) Oh thank god, I was worried the sex shop wasn’t making any money

Magnus Bane:

(9:40AM) uh hi there, thanks for asking, the date was great

(9:40AM) gotta say i’m a little disappointed you all so quickly believed i was doing porn now

(9:41AM) AND THE STORE IS DOING GREAT!

Magnus took a picture of the bondage display where he’d followed a Shibari instructional to tie up a mannequin with bright rainbow-colored rope. He sent the picture to the group chat and went back to taking notes about what he needed to restock from the back.

Tessaaaa:

(9:42AM) looks great!

(9:42AM) but really, im dying from food poisoning, can we do this convo later????

Raphael S:

(9:43AM) What is this picture?

(9:43AM) Tessa, food poisoning? Again? You really should stop eating hot dogs from the sidewalks…

Catarina Loss:

(9:45AM) wat did that mannequin do to deserve such treatment!?

(9:45AM) tessa, do u need anything?

(9:45AM) it’s my day off i can bring u soup?

Ragnor “Dear Little Cabbage” Fell:

(9:46AM) Oh look at that! Magnus are you exploring bondage now?

(9:46AM) With your pornstar boyfriend?

Tessaaaa:

(9:48AM) it was raw cookie dough…not hot dogs…

(9:48AM) shut the fuck up Raphael, i can hear your condescension

(9:48AM) ima ask one more time…magnus i love you but can we do this when i'm not laying on my bathroom floor dying?

(9:49AM) thank you cat, i’ll be ok

Raphael S:

(9:49AM) …seriously?

(9:50AM) Everyone knows not to eat raw cookie dough

Magnus Bane:

(9:52AM) OK

(9:52AM) 3 THINGS

(9:52AM) 1. THERE IS NO PORN CAREER/PORNSTAR HAPPENING. he WRITES erotica…it’s different

(9:53AM) 2. RAW COOKIE DOUGH IS DELICIOUS

(9:53AM) 3. can we just do this conversation over dinner? i’ll make nasi goreng and chicken satay if you all just spare me this painful text chain

Ragnor “Dear Little Cabbage” Fell:

(9:55AM) What about dessert? I haven’t had your wingko in ages

(9:55AM) But yes, I’ll be there, classes just ended so I have time to do things again

Raphael S:

(9:55AM) I’ll bring alcohol

(9:55AM) It’ll make talking about Magnus’ love life bearable

Catarina Loss:

(9:56AM) YAAAASSSS!

(9:56AM) i don’t work the next three saturdays so just let me know when!!!!!!

(9:56AM) omggggg magnus! u havent’ made dinner in ages!

Tessaaaa:

(9:58AM) i’ll be there.

(9:58AM) can we pleas be done w/ this text chain now. i love you all but i just want to empty the contents of my body in peace

Magnus Bane:

(10:00AM) alright! let's figure out the deets once tessa isn’t dying anymore. K?

Ragnor “Dear Little Cabbage” Fell:

(10:02AM) Fair enough, but one last question. Will the pornstar be there too? Do we get to meet him?

Magnus Bane:

(10:02AM) OMG RAGNOR! EROTICA AUTHOR!

(10:04AM) i hadn’t thought to invite him…maybe? TBD…

Tessaaaa:

(10:05AM) ok sounds great but i swear to all that’s holy if anyone texts the chat again i will come to your place and use your bathroom for my recovery!

Magnus laughed at Tessa’s text and looked back over everything his friends just said. He chewed his lip, while he was excited to have everyone over for dinner he wasn’t sure if he wanted to have Alec there too. His friends were a lot to handle and things were still _very_ new with Alec.

He looked around the store, it was starting to get busy with tourists who didn’t have a place like Bane’s Erotica, Books, & Toys near them. He put his phone away, he had plenty of time to decide if he’d invite Alec to dinner with everyone, and right now he had customers to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I know it wasn't as long as the last few but I'm trying to accept that not all of my chapters need to be 4,000-8,000 words long ;) Anyways, I'm super excited for the next few chapters so I'm trying to get those finished up and edited sooner rather than later.
> 
> As always any comments, critiques, kudos, and general lovin's are appreciated xx


	8. The Dinner Party (aka Blow jobs and stuff, huh?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Why? I’m not judging, I’m just curious. You’re fucking hot and you obviously have a dirty mind.” He winked at Alec, “I read _All Tied Up _Alexander, I think it gave me a rope kink.”__
> 
> _  
> _Alec coughed as he tried to swallow the wine he’d been trying to drink. “Fuck,” he all but moaned. He felt his face heat up when he realized that he’d said it out loud and not in his head.__  
> 

_Erik pulled Mac down onto the couch beside him, the two glasses of wine he’d had were making him feel bolder than usual. He leaned in kissed Mac again, this time he held nothing back, the kiss searing and passionate._

_“I want,” he said into Mac’s lips, “I want you.” Erik pulled back and looked into Mac’s eyes, “I want you to fuck me.” Erik watched as Mac’s golden eyes darkened with lust at his words and the fire that burned deep within him blazed hotter. Mac had early on proclaimed his versatility with topping or bottoming in the bedroom, and since Erik had only ever been the top in his relationship with Peter he’d simply continued in that role. It was only since he and Mac had started to explore more that he felt comfortable asking for something different._

_“Jesus christ, Erik,” Mac growled, the sound came from deep in his throat. “You sure?” He stared into Erik’s eyes as if looking for any sign that this was a joke, seeing none he pressed his body against Erik, forcing him back on the gray cushions. Erik was laid all the way back across the couch, Mac’s body slotted between his legs. Erik felt Mac’s arousal against his own rapidly hardening member, the friction of his jeans was almost too much to bear._

_Erik found Mac’s mouth again, his hands going up to twine in Mac’s black hair pulling him deep into the kiss as he bucked up against Mac, their hips grinding together. Erik’s breath hitched, as he whimpered into Mac’s mouth._

_Mac shivered at the sensation and reached to wind his long, fingers through Erik’s hair, he pulled slightly, tilting Erik’s head back to give him access to his neck. Mac nipped and licked his way down Erik’s neck, one hand still fastened in Erik’s blonde hair, his other hand moving down between their bodies to play with the bottom of Erik’s shirt._

_“Take this off,” Mac ordered sitting up and looking down at Erik from where he sat between his legs, his eyes flashed dark. Erik moved to obey, pulling his t-shirt over his head. He moved his hands tentatively to the hem of Mac’s shirt, Mac nodded, and Erik unbuttoned the black shirt Mac had worn to work that day. He gasped when the heat of their skin finally met._

_Erik let his hands roam over Mac’s body. Mac’s brown skin was soft and smooth under his rough hands, Mac closed his eyes and bit his lip when Erik’s hands came to rest on his ass. Mac slid his hands down Erik’s chest to his jeans, teasingly running his hands over his aching cock._

_“Touch me,” Erik choked out. Mac swiftly unbuttoned his jeans, his warm hand grasping Erik’s hard –_

Alec was interrupted mid-sentence by the sound of his phone going off, the small chirping noise for a text breaking his concentration. He didn’t even look at his phone as he swiftly slid the mute switch down, turning off the sound on his iPhone.

He tried to focus back on what he was writing. His phone buzzed with another text, Alec worked to ignore the sound until another two vibrations came through. “Fuck, Izzy!” he exclaimed finally moving his focus from the laptop screen to his phone. His stomach did a flip as he looked down and saw that it wasn’t Izzy texting him, there were four texts from Magnus. Alec quickly unlocked his phone to read the texts, his annoyance at the interruption vanished.

Magnus Fucking Bane!!:

(1:02PM) hey alec!

(1:04PM) oops sorry totally pressed send before i meant to. anyway hey! was wondering if youre free?

(1:05PM) saturday

(1:05PM) on saturday i mean. not just like free in general lol

As Alec finished reading three dots appeared on the screen, he waited. The ellipsis disappeared, and another two texts came through in rapid succession. Alec smiled broadly as he read them.

(1:08PM) omg i swear i kno how to text!

(1:08PM) i'm having some friends over on sat for dinner (i'm cooking!!!) and was wondering if youd be interested in coming? i know its last min so no pressure :)

Alec and Magnus hadn’t had a chance to see each other again since their date two weeks earlier. Magnus hadn’t been lying when he said things got busy at his store during Pride month and Alec had been focused on writing the first five chapters of his newest book. Alec hadn’t felt this excited to work on a new book in years and it was refreshing to remember how much he enjoyed writing.

Alec reread the texts from Magnus and typed a response.

Alec:

(1:14PM) Hey Magnus, dinner on Saturday sounds great! I can’t wait to meet your friends (and try your cooking!). Can I bring anything? An app? Drinks? Dessert?

Magnus Fucking Bane!!:

(1:15PM) perfect!

(1:15PM) an app would be nice but don’t worry if yu don’t bring something. i'm sure there will be hella food

(1:16PM) quick heads up…my friends can be alllooottt but theyre nice. i promise :)

Alec:

(1:20PM) Haha, I’m sure they’re great! What time?

Magnus Fucking Bane!!:

(1:22PM) 7:30!

(1:23PM) blah!!! the store just got swamped with the after lunch crowd. i’ll send you the deets tonight. later handsome <3

Alec felt his face heat up when he read “handsome.” He knew Magnus would love to know that he could make Alec blush even over text. It wasn’t fair how easily Magnus caused Alec’s cheeks to burn pink, but the coy smile that would always light up Magnus’ face was worth it. Plus, Magnus had said pink was a good color on Alec.

Alec gave his head a small shake, he had been trying to not think too much about Magnus. They’d only been on one date and while they texted almost every day they hadn’t really talked _that_ much since then. But a few times a day Alec’s mind would always inevitably get lost in recounting the time they’d spent together. How Magnus had opened up about his ex. How easy it was to talk to Magnus. How perfectly his and Magnus’ body had fit against each other when they kissed. And how perfectly their bodies would be together without any clothes on…

Church jumped onto Alec’s lap, startling him out of his musings about what Magnus Bane would look like naked. He took a deep breath to center himself and stroked Church’s long gray fur. “We’re taking it slow,” he told the cat, “I need to chill.”

Church looked back at Alec and flicked his tail irritably, “You give terrible advice you know,” he scratched under Church’s chin. The cat closed his eyes and started purring, “You’re right, I should just call Izzy. I need to do that anyways to see when the editor needs these chapters.”

Alec stood up and stretched his arms above his head, he hadn’t realized how stiff he’d gotten sitting in his chair. He’d started writing around 8:45 that morning, after his run with Jace and a hot shower to ease his aching muscles. His body still wasn’t happy with running 14 miles but at least he wasn’t as slow as he had been the first time he and Jace had done the longer run. He picked up his phone and clicked Izzy’s name, walking to his kitchen as he did so, what was he going to make to bring to Magnus’ tomorrow?

He laughed when Izzy picked up, “This Isabelle Lightwood speaking, literary agent to the Lamda Literary award-winning erotica writing genius Alexander Lightwood.”

***

Magnus left the store early on Saturday, leaving two sales associates, Will and Jem, with Tessa. Tessa was staying until 7:30pm to make sure things were running smoothly before letting the two close-up the store by themselves. Tessa looked pleased to be left with the men, she hadn’t told Magnus anything yet, but he had suspicions that the three of them were dating.

Magnus enjoyed with the occasional threesome, but he knew he could never be in a polyamorous relationship like Tessa had done in the past and seemed to be doing now. He was happy for his friend, maybe she’d spill the tea after a few glasses of wine later.

Magnus stopped at the market on his way home to pick up the groceries he’d need to make nasi goreng, chicken satay, and wingko. Magnus’ mother had died when he was eighteen, but they’d spent one evening a week cooking traditional Indonesian food in their tiny apartment in Alphabet City for years. The dishes he was making for his friends were some of his favorites and he knew the ingredient list by heart.

He walked through the aisles picking up what he’d need (rice flour, coconut milk, eggs, confectioners’ sugar, shredded coconut, and vanilla for the wingko), stopping every so often to read the back of a package to see if it was authentic (the red chili was imported from Thailand and would work just fine in the chicken satay marinade). By the time he got to the check-out he was weighed down by all the ingredients, his stomach rumbling at the thought of his mother’s recipes.

It was hot outside the store, the sun beating down relentlessly on the June day. Magnus thought of the central air conditioning he had in his loft as he moved through the crowded city sidewalks to his tranquil street. The brick pre-war building was quiet in the early afternoon and he stopped for a moment in the lobby to appreciate the cool temperature, deciding that he deserved to take the elevator with all his heavy canvas bags of groceries. Five floors felt like hell when the bags bit into his shoulders.

The elevator brought him slowly up to his floor, there were only two apartments on the fifth floor, each boasting a larger floor plan than most others in the building and a big private terrace. Magnus had filled his terrace with sun-loving plants and bought an oversized farmhouse table that easily held platters of delicious food and had more than enough room for all of his friends.

Magnus dropped the bags of groceries on his kitchen counter and walked over to his stereo system, switching it on to play from his phone’s Bluetooth. The sound of Aretha Franklin’s “Chain of Fools” flooded his apartment and Magnus headed back to his kitchen. He put on his favorite apron, a plain navy blue and white striped one that his mother had bought him the first time he made dinner by himself.

Magnus pulled everything out of the bags and smiled at all of the ingredients in front of him, it was time to make something delicious.

\--

Catarina was the first to arrive, she’d warned Magnus that she’d be getting there at 7:00PM claiming that she was going to “help in the kitchen.” Since Catarina was a notoriously bad cook Magnus knew that he was probably in for a well-meaning interrogation from his friend.

“Cat! Darling!” He exclaimed as he opened the door, he moved to give Catarina a kiss on each check before stepping back to let her in. “You look gorgeous!” Magnus said as he took in his friend. Catarina was dressed in light blue high-waisted jeans with a black tank top tucked in, a chunky beaded necklace in reds and golds complimented her dark complexion perfectly. Her long black hair was in twists and loose down her bare back.

“Magnus, what on earth is this outfit?” Catarina was staring down at his clothes with ill-hidden amusement. “Also, I brought booze.” She handed him a bottle of Riesling and a bottle of Chardonnay, moving past him to go into his loft.

“Shoes off!” he called after her and then looked down at his outfit, he’d just showered and changed, finally finding a moment when all of the different dishes were either safely cooking on the stove or already made. He’d picked out a silky red button down and a pair of dark jeans that he’d cuffed at the bottom exposing his bare feet. The outfit was lightweight, comfortable and the right kind of sexy, he decided Catarina didn’t know what she was talking about.

“It’s the buttons,” Catarina said coming back to put her shoes down in the basket by the front door. “You seem to have only buttoned two of them.” She gestured at Magnus’ chest, part of which was exposed showing off smooth bronze skin and the necklaces Magnus’ had picked out.

“You’re being dramatic, I have at least,” Magnus looked down and counted the buttons, “four. Four buttons buttoned.”

Catarina rolled her eyes, “Whatever you say.”

They walked to Magnus kitchen. The loft was mostly open with the kitchen exposed to the living room and dining area; from where they stood they could see out onto the terrace where Magnus had already laid out the dishware and turned on the Edison bulbs that hung over the space. Magnus had turned on a Spotify playlist he liked, it featured a perfect blend of music with classics like “Got To Give It Up” by Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross’s LGBT+ anthem “I’m Coming Out” mixed in with the new sounds of “7/11” by Beyoncé and Miguel’s “Adorn.”

Magnus put the wine from Catarina in his wine fridge to chill and pulled out the bottle of Prosecco he’d opened up when he started cooking. “Help me finish the bubbly?” He held up the bottle for Catarina to see, she smiled and nodded.

“Of course, now where do you want me? I can help in the kitchen or I can sit here, and you can tell me all about the book-guy you’re dating while you finish making dinner.” Catarina was already on her way to sit at a bar stool on the other side of the kitchen island.

Magnus rolled his eyes and smiled, “Take this,” he handed her the glass of Prosecco, “and stay there, don’t even think about touching this masterpiece.”

Catarina grinned and held up her glass to tap against Magnus,’ “To you finally getting laid soon!”

Magnus nearly spit his drink all over Catarina, he glared at her as she cackled, nearly falling off her bar stool. Magnus walked to the other side of the island and checked the nasi goreng on the stove, the smell of chili peppers with onions and garlic made his mouth water. Magnus turned the heat down and turned to face Catarina.

“We decided to take things slow,” he held up his hand when Catarina made to jump in, “It was my idea Cat, I’m nervous as hell about dating again and the last thing I need is to get caught up in something purely based on physical attraction.”

Catarina studied him a moment, “You like, really like him, like, like-like him.” She said it bluntly, a statement, not a question.

Magnus blushed and turned away, so Catarina wouldn’t see, “I’m not sure yet, but I think he seems great so far.”

Catarina was quiet, Magnus busied himself with getting the chicken satay ready. He didn’t have a grill to make it the traditional way over an open flame, but he’d found that an indoor grill did the job just fine.

Catarina spoke as he slid the first skewers of chicken on the grill. “I’m worried you’re moving too fast,” Magnus looked at her incredulously, “Not the physical part! I’d probably feel better if you’d just fucked him and never seen him again. No, I’m worried that this is getting emotional really fast, I mean what’s it been two weeks?”

Magnus scoffed, “We met almost a month ago Cat.”

“Whatever,” she waved her hand dismissively, “I don’t want him to hurt you. You told me he ran away the first time you two almost kissed. What was up with that?”

“I told you he apologized a bunch for that, and he can in fact kiss quite well so there’s that.” Magnus was feeling prickly, he’d expected Catarina to be more supportive and less protective. “Cat,” he reached across the island and grabbed her hand, “I love you to pieces and I appreciate what you’re doing but I think I’m going to try this, I know it seems crazy to you, but I don’t want something casual or just sex. I’m thirty-four and I want a partner, I want someone who makes me laugh, I want someone who wants me for me.”

Catarina held his gaze, “And you think Alex could be it?”

“Alec,” Magnus corrected, “and maybe, or at least someone I’m willing to try with.”

“Ugh fine!” Catarina pulled her hand back to pick up her phone, “Should I buy his books? That’s what I did when I met Raphael.”

Magnus thought for a beat, “Go for it Cat, maybe you’ll be into gay erotica.”

Catarina smiled sweetly back at Magnus, “Maybe I will be.” He watched her open up Amazon and start scrolling.

Magnus left her at the island when he heard a knock on the door, it wasn’t quite 7:30PM yet. He opened the door to find Ragnor Fell and Raphael Santiago, they were deep in conversation and didn’t seem to notice him. The two had become fast friends when Magnus brought Raphael to dinner with all of them four years ago, they had bonded initially over Magnus’ fashion. Neither of them had understood his animal print-grunge phase and had mocked him relentlessly about it.

Magnus cleared his throat loudly, “Magnus!” Ragnor bellowed before pulling Magnus into a tight hug.

Ragnor was Magnus’ only friend with any real height, at 6’2 Magnus knew he was tall, but he towered over his mostly female friend group and Raphael was only 5’7. He thought about how Alec was pretty tall too, just a little bit shorter than him. He’d needed to tilt his head up just a little bit when they’d kissed, but what Alec lacked in height he’d made up for with his broad shoulders and firm body…

“Magnus?” Ragnor was looking at him quizzically, “Are you ill?”

“Oh god, be sick somewhere else,” Raphael quipped, marching into Magnus’ apartment.

“Shoes off!” Magnus shouted good-naturedly. Ragnor had already taken his black high-top Converse off, revealing brightly colored socks that didn’t match. Raphael grumbled to himself but took off his shiny Oxfords, his plain black socks unimpressive compared to Ragnor’s.

“Is the pornstar here?” Ragnor asked loudly, looking around Magnus towards the kitchen. He waved when he saw Catarina, “Hello lovely, you look dazzling tonight!”

Raphael thrust two bottles of Rosé into Magnus’ arms, “Don’t even try to hug me, I don’t need your,” he pointed at Magnus’ bare chest, “your, _that_ , all over me.”

“Love you too!” Magnus called over his shoulder as he brought the wine to the fridge.

Magnus’ apartment was suddenly bursting with life and noise as the four friends began talking over one another. It’d been months since they’d all be together. Ragnor taught history at King’s College in London nine months out of the year but he returned to his tiny apartment in Hell’s Kitchen every summer. He said it was because he needed to eat food that wasn’t overcooked, but Magnus had always known it was because he missed his friends.

Raphael had poured himself a glass of the Riesling that Catarina brought and was standing in front of the exposed brick wall in Magnus’ living area. “Is this new?” He was pointing at an abstract painting Magnus had recently bought.

“Yes!” Magnus began excitedly.

“It’s strange, I don’t think I like it much,” Raphael said drily.

Magnus looked at his friend, “It’s art, not everyone has to like it.” He walked back to the kitchen, leaving Raphael to stare at the painting.

“Why do we even keep him around?” He said loudly to Ragnor as he came back into the kitchen. “Don’t touch that!” he smacked Ragnor’s hand away from where he had grabbed a piece of wingko. “Dessert will happen soon enough.”

Ragnor smiled and popped the piece of coconut dessert in his mouth, “Delicious as always Magnus,” he bowed dramatically.

Magnus couldn’t help the smile that come to his face, Ragnor drove him crazy but he was still Magnus’ oldest friend. “You are an asshole,” he said moving the dessert platter out of Ragnor’s reach.

“When’s your mystery man arriving? He is coming right?” Ragnor seated himself next to Catarina and reached for a piece of chicken satay.

“No!” Magnus swatted at Ragnor with the wooden spoon he was using to fluff the nasi goreng. “He should be here soon, he’s not rudely early like _some_ people I know,” he looked at each of his friends.

“What’s the plan?” Raphael asked as he walked over to the kitchen. “Are we going for intimidation? Do we each pull him aside and tell him to watch himself, or else.”

“Oh dear god, no, no,” Magnus turned away from where he was putting the rice dish in a big bowl. “No one is doing any of that.”

“How about more of a good cop, bad cop situation?” Catarina asked helpfully. “Raphael, you should be the good cop.”

Raphael rolled his eyes and took a sip of wine, “Whatever you say Magnus.”

There was a knock at the door and everyone stopped talking. “Please just be normal,” Magnus said as he swept to the door.

Alec stood on the other side, he was holding a canvas tote bag and smiling nervously. He was wearing a light gray t-shirt, it fit snuggly across his shoulders and showed off recently tanned arms covered in all of the tattoos Magnus had seen once before. His jeans were well-worn with faded knees and a few small holes that Magnus doubted Alec paid for. The outfit seemed more Alec than anything Magnus had seem him in yet.

“Alexander,” Magnus said stepping forward to hug Alec. His arms wrapped around Alec’s neck and he kissed him softly on the lips. He could feel Alec’s surprise as he tensed but he quickly relaxed into the embrace, the arm not holding a bag coming up to wrap around Magnus’ middle.

“Hi Magnus,” he said quietly against Magnus’ lips as they pulled apart. He looked Magnus up and down, his eyes widening as he took in Magnus’ bare chest, “Oh wow, you look fucking h –, I mean, you look nice.” He blushed and looked down, but Magnus had seen the look of desire on his face before he’d looked away.

“Fucking hot works for me,” Magnus said with a wink. “You look pretty fucking gorgeous yourself Alexander.”

Alec grinned sheepishly and glanced down at the bag in his hand, “Ha, uh, thanks. So, I made hummus, roasted beet hummus actually, with some veggies. I didn’t know what you were making for dinner, so I didn’t want to bring anything that would clash flavors.”

“That sounds delicious! I don’t think I’ve had beet hummus before.” Magnus peeked in the bag and saw the beet colored dip, “Oh, I love the color!”

Alec laughed, “You did say you like me in pink.”

Magnus looked up at Alec, he was grinning broadly at what he’d said. “Did you seriously make this just to say that to me?”

“Yes,” Alec said, no shame in his voice. He glanced down at Magnus’ bare feet, “Is this a shoes-off house?”

“It is! There’s a basket there with everyone’s shoes already in it.” Magnus took the bag from Alec as he knelt down to pick up the faded Vans he’d kicked off. Magnus was surprised to see that Alec was barefoot, his feet not as pale as Magnus would have thought.

“I’m a shoes-off house too,” Alec said standing up.

“Magnus! Stop making out and bring that man in here!” Ragnor roared from the kitchen.

Alec paled slightly. “I swear they’re nice, a bit strange, and very loud, but they’re good people,” Magnus pulled Alec by the hand into the open kitchen/living area.

Catarina was the first to come over, next to Alec her petite frame seemed even more tiny, but she looked Alec up and down fiercely as if sizing him up. Alec stood nervously reaching out his hand, “I’m Alec.”

Catarina looked at his hand, “Catarina,” she finally said stepping forward to shake it. “You’re cuter than I thought you’d be, but I suppose Magnus does have good taste.”

Alec blushed, “Uh, thanks?”

Ragnor rushed in and pulled Alec into a hug, “Hello Alec!” he cried. “I am absolutely thrilled that you exist, I was worried Magnus was making you up.”

“Wh-what?” Alec looked passed Ragnor’s blonde head at Magnus, eyes wide.

“Stop it Ragnor, we all know you’re the one with imaginary girlfriends,” Magnus said. He pulled his friend off of Alec, “Ignore ninety percent of what he says.”

Ragnor scoffed, but before he could say more Raphael came up. He stood a distance away, looking at Magnus standing beside Alec. “Seriously Magnus, _this_ is the porn guy? I thought he’d look less normal, more creepy maybe and less all-American.”

Alec flushed, “Um, I-I mean sure I watch porn but it’s nothing unusual, I wouldn’t call myself a porn guy.”

Catarina and Ragnor broke into fits of laughter.

Magnus glared daggers at Raphael, who stared back with a smirk on his face.

“He meant author, not porn guy. Raphael thinks he’s being funny, he’s _not_ , in fact maybe he won’t get invited to any future dinners ever again!” Magnus patted Alec’s back, “And I’m sure everyone here watches porn.”

“Nope,” Raphael said, “I really don’t.”

Magnus held up his hands, “Fine, everyone but Raphael. Anyways, Alec, these are my friends. Tessa should be here soon, she’s probably making out with her boyfriends or watching her boyfriends’ make out, just as long as it’s not happening in my office I don’t care.”

“I heard that!” Tessa walked in, her brown hair frizzy from the heat and a flush on her chest. She hadn’t changed from her work clothes, so she was wearing jeans and the Bane’s Erotica, Books, & Toys t-shirt for Pride month. Magnus had made all of his employees personalized Pride shirts, Tessa’s had a polyamorous flag with the words “Ask Me About My Boyfriends” written on the front. The back simply said “Love is Love” followed by the store’s logo.

“I’m going to change real quick, someone pour me a glass of wine for when I come back out,” Tessa walked back down the hall towards Magnus’ bedroom where his large en suite bathroom was.

Magnus took the hummus out of the bag and placed it on the wooden platter Alec had brought. Alec came over and helped him arrange the neatly cut vegetables around it. Magnus took a slice of cucumber and swiped it through the brightly colored dip. “Oh wow, this really is delicious!”

“Thanks,” Alec dipped a carrot in the hummus and took a bite, he nodded appreciatively, “I was worried I’d put too much cumin in, but it seems fine.”

Catarina reached across the island and took a cherry tomato with some hummus on it, “Oh shit, the cutie can cook food too!?”

Magnus smiled, “Apparently!” He moved the platter forward so that everyone could try the hummus. He turned back to the stove, taking stock of what he needed to finish for dinner. He heard Ragnor offer Alec a glass of wine as Raphael did his best to make Alec uncomfortable again.

Tessa came back out, she had put on a long sleeveless maxi dress and put her hair up in a big messy bun. Catarina handed her a glass of wine and the two women looked over to where Raphael and Ragnor had dragged Alec, they were pointing at the painting Raphael had said he didn’t like.

Catarina looked back at Magnus and took another sip of wine, “I think I like him Magnus.”

“Me too,” Magnus said, a warm-feeling in his chest as he looked out at his friends and Alec, “me too.”

***

Alec sat nervously on Magnus’ couch, playing with the edge of one of the decorative pillows as he listened to Magnus quietly saying his goodbyes to Ragnor and Catarina. Tessa and Raphael had left earlier, Tessa reminding Magnus that she was working in the morning and Raphael bluntly stating that he’d had enough of his friends and he wanted to leave.

Alec had been a little taken aback at Raphael’s pronouncement but had seen the smile he gave his friends as he gave each person a hug. Alec had been surprised when Raphael came over to him and gave him a quick hug. He’d been even more surprised when Raphael whispered in his ear, “You’d better be good to our Magnus.” He hadn’t said “or else” but Alec felt it was strongly implied.

Magnus came back into the living room, smiling at Alec. “Do you want another drink? I was thinking of having another glass of wine, Raphael left a bottle of rosé in the fridge.”

Alec hadn’t had too much to drink all evening, he’d been too nervous that he’d say something stupid in front of Magnus’ friends. “A glass of rosé would be great. Thanks!”

Magnus walked to the kitchen and pulled the bottle of rosé out of the fridge. He grabbed two wine glasses and an opener on his way back to Alec, stopping to dim the lights throughout the apartment before coming to sit beside Alec. “Just preserving electricity,” he said with a shrug when Alec looked at him.

Alec laughed, he didn’t buy that excuse in the slightest, but he wasn’t complaining. Maybe the dim light would hide how nervous Alec was. He reached to take the wine bottle and opener from Magnus, “Here, I can do that.”

Magnus smiled and passed them over, “Thanks,” he said still holding the wine glasses. Alec swiftly opened the bottle and poured them each a generous glass of the rosé before putting the bottle onto the glass coffee table in front of him.

Magnus handed Alec one of the glasses and then held up his own, “You survived my friends!” Alec laughed and clinked his glass with Magnus.’ “And they all liked you,” Magnus went on, “even Raphael had nothing bad to say.”

Alec choked on the wine he’d just sipped. “Really?” he gasped out, “How could you tell?”

It was Magnus’ turn to laugh, “It’s always subtle with Raphael, he didn’t sneer at you at all. Plus,” Magnus said with a twinkle in his eyes, “he texted our group chat after he left to say you seemed adequate.”

“Huh,” Alec still didn’t quite believe it. “Well, you have great friends, I’m glad I got the chance to meet them.”

Magnus beamed at Alec, “I’m so happy you liked them! They’re all I’ve got for a family.” Alec opened his mouth to ask about Magnus’ birth family, but Magnus beat him to it, “My mom died when I was eighteen, breast cancer, and my dad was never around.”

“Oh Magnus, I’m so sorry,” Alec reached out the hand that wasn’t holding his wine glass and put it on Magnus’ forearm. He cleared his throat, “Uh, my brother, my baby brother, Max, he died of cancer when he was nine. I was eighteen too.”

Magnus put a hand over the hand Alec had placed on his forearm and gave a squeeze, “Alexander, I can’t imagine losing a sibling.”

Alec looked down at their hands, his hand pale against the skin of Magnus’ arm. He moved his thumbs in small circles where it rested Magnus. Looking up he gave Magnus a smile, “It was shitty, my parents were pretty terrible after that. I think that’s part of the reason why they took my coming out the next year so poorly.” He let out a chuckle, “They also freaked when I got my first tattoos, I got them for Max.”

“The wings?” Magnus asked quietly, reaching out to run his hand across the wing on his left arm, the black and gray tattoo was surrounded by flames.

Alec looked down, as if surprised that Magnus had guessed. “Oh, yeah, and the rest of it came later. The wings were first, for Max.” His throat felt tight for a moment, he swallowed and looked into Magnus’ eyes. They were golden-brown as always, the dim lighting reflecting the gold flecks.

“What are you staring at?” Magnus asked with a smile, “Do I have something on my face?”

Alec smiled back and shook his head, “Nope, you’re perfect Magnus.” Magnus’ looked at Alec in surprise, his mouth open to say something before Alec went on, “I was looking at your eyes. I can’t figure out their color. Are they brown? Gold? Can people even have golden eyes?” Alec chuckled, “I guess I’m trying to say I like your eyes.”

Magnus fluttered his eyelashes dramatically at Alec and leaned in close, “Is that so?” he breathed, his breath was hot against Alec’s mouth. His tongue darted out and licked his lips, Alec followed the action with his eyes. Magnus’ lips were shiny where his tongue had just been.

Alec looked back into Magnus’ eyes, they had gone dark with a hunger Alec was sure was echoed in his own eyes. “It is so.” Alec said as Magnus leaned in and closed the distance between their mouths. Any other words he might have said disappeared with the feel of Magnus’ lips moving against his lips. Alec pulled back after a few moments, “Hold on.” Magnus looked at him, a confused look on his face until Alec took the wine glass from his hand and put it with his own on the coffee table with the bottle.

“You’re a smart man,” Magnus murmured as he pressed his mouth back to Alec’s.

With his hands free Magnus quickly climbed onto Alec’s lap a teasing smile playing on his face. His long legs folded underneath him with a knee pressed into cushions on either side of Alec’s hips. “Mind if I sit here?” Alec nodded and groaned into Magnus’ mouth as Magnus ground his hips down, he could feel his cock hardening behind his jeans.

But something in the back of Alec’s mind started panicking, softly at first until he couldn’t focus on what was happening any more.

“Wait,” he rasped out, willing his body to get on the same page as his mind. He clenched his eyes shut and took a deep breath, when he opened his eyes he was met by Magnus looking at him with concern. “I – I have something I need to talk to you about.”

Magnus took a deep breath and nodded, “Okay, sure, we haven’t talked about getting tested. I haven’t really had any partners since Camille, so I’m not taking PrEP and I haven’t been tested in a while but I – ”

“No, no it’s not that,” Alec hadn’t even thought of that, “it’s basically the opposite of that.”

Magnus cocked his head at Alec, “What does that even mean?”

“It’s just, just that I – I’ve, uh, I haven’t done this,” Alec gestured vaguely between himself and Magnus, “before.”

“I’m sorry, what is “this”?” Magnus repeated the gesture that Alec had just done.

Alec ran his hands up his face into his hair. “Fuck, fuck me, um, I-I neverhadsexbefore,” the last four words running into one as he rushed to say them.

“You what?” Magnus asked, his brows were furrowed as he tried to understand Alec.

“I’ve never had sex before,” Alec said again, practically yelling. He could feel himself sweating.

“Oh.” Magnus paused and then laughed, “Wait, what? You’re joking right? I’ve read all your books Alexander, you definitely know what you’re talking about. You’ve had sex.”

Alec looked down, he couldn’t look at Magnus.

Magnus stopped laughing and moved from Alec’s lap, “Oh fuck, you’re serious.” Alec nodded, staring down at where he’d clasped his hands in his lap.

Alec felt Magnus move away from him. It was just like he’d always feared, he was being rejected. He closed his eyes against the sting he felt behind them, he felt like he’d just been punched.

Alec heard the music that had been playing softly all evening stop abruptly and felt Magnus back beside him. He allowed himself to take a deep breath, maybe he wasn’t being rejected, yet.

“It’s something I’ve been dreading telling you, telling anyone really. But uh, I like you and I didn’t want to not tell you, you deserve to know…” Alec trailed off still looking at his hands.

Magnus was silent. Alec spared a glance and saw that Magnus had picked up his wine and was looking down into the rose-colored drink. Alec’s heart was racing, what was Magnus thinking.

As if he could hear Alec’s mind Magnus looked up and caught Alec’s eye, he smiled, “Okay.”

Okay? Alec’s brain whirled as he tried to understand what that could mean. Was it, okay good to know, bye. Or, okay let’s just be friends. He searched Magnus’ face for a clue, finding none he forced his throat to croak out, “What do you mean okay?”

“I mean, okay,” Magnus shrugged. “No big deal, we were taking things slowly anyways, we can still do that.” He took a sip of wine and put the glass down. “Can I ask you something though?”

Alec couldn’t believe what he was hearing, never in his wildest dreams did he allow himself to think that someone would just be okay with his lack of experience. It took a moment before he registered that Magnus had asked a question, “Yeah, sure anything.”

“Why? I’m not judging, I’m just curious. You’re fucking hot and you obviously have a dirty mind.” He winked at Alec, “I read _All Tied Up_ Alexander, I think it gave me a rope kink.”

Alec coughed as he tried to swallow the wine he’d been trying to drink.“Fuck,” he all but moaned. He felt his face heat up when he realized that he’d said it out loud and not in his head. Magnus laughed, and put a hand to Alec’s burning face running a thumb along his cheekbone.

Alec looked at Magnus, seeing only kindness and some curiosity. “It’s a fair question. It’s not like I’ve never had the opportunity. And it’s not like I’ve never done anything, I’ve done blow jobs and stuff. And I have dildos…” He quickly shut his mouth.

“Blow jobs and stuff, huh?” Magnus asked, one eyebrow raised, a smile playing at his lips. “I like blow jobs and stuff,” he paused before adding, “and dildos.”

Alec groaned and put his head in his hands, when he looked back up at Magnus he saw that Magnus was looking back at him expectantly. Alec realised that he hadn’t actually answered Magnus’ question. “Uh, it’s mostly because every time I met someone, and I was ready to take that step with them something would happen. Like, my ex in Brazil, Paulo, we were going to ya know, but he ended up breaking up with me out of the blue. I found out later he’d met someone else. Another guy had to go back to Canada, apparently his visa had expired, and he was deported?”

Magnus looked incredulous, “Deported?”

“Yeah,” Alec knew how ridiculous is sounded, but that was how his early twenties had gone. “I swear I spent the first five years after coming out trying to have sex and then having these stupid things happen, so by the time I hit my mid-twenties I just stopped trying and started spending all of my time writing.” Alec paused and then smiled wryly, “and watching porn, that’s why it seems like I know what I’m talking about in my books. I’ve watched so much porn and read so many books about sex, I had to make sure the sex scenes were realistic.”

Magnus didn’t answer him right away, he picked up the bottle of rosé and emptied the contents into both of their glasses. Setting the bottle back down he looked at Alec, a playful grin on his face, “So blow jobs and stuff, huh? I know we’re taking things slow but how would you feel about something like that happening?” He leaned closer to Alec and purred, “Tonight?”

Alec would have sworn that he audibly gulped, like a cartoon character, “Oh fuck,” was all he managed as he stared at Magnus’ face. “Fuck, I mean, yes, so much yes.” He took two big sips of his wine, finishing it, and put his glass down.

Magnus lazily finished his wine, his eyes never leaving Alec’s face. He licked his lips when he was done and placed his glass next to Alec’s. “I seem to remember that I was sitting somewhere more comfortable than this before.” He looked down at Alec’s lap where Alec had clasped his hands again.

Alec didn’t need to be told twice and he moved his hands off his lap. Magnus smiled and reached to turn the music back on, “High For This” by The Weeknd suddenly filling the room.

When he turned back to face Alec his eyes were dark and he all but jumped onto Alec’s lap. He settled himself, rolling his hips in time to the music. Alec’s mouth fell open, just when he thought Magnus couldn’t get any hotter. Magnus smirked and leaned his face down to Alec’s, letting his lips ghost across Alec’s. “This okay?” he asked.

“Fuck, oh fuck, yes,” Alec managed to gasp out, his brain had officially shut down as soon as he’d felt Magnus moving against him. His hips involuntarily jerked up to meet Magnus’ motions. Magnus moaned as the movement brushed Alec’s rapidly hardening cock against his own.

Their eyes met for a moment before their lips came together. The kiss was bruising, Magnus’ tongue swirling around Alec’s until Alec sucked his bottom lip into his mouth. Alec’s hands were all over Magnus, his hands snaking under the back of Magnus’ shirt to let his hands run up the bare skin of Magnus’ back. Magnus shivered at the sensation, breaking the kiss to pull Alec’s t-shirt over his head, he tossed it over the back of the couch unceremoniously.

Magnus stared down at Alec, his hands came up to run through the hair that sprinkled across Alec’s chest, his fingers tracing the tattoos on his chest before following the hair down towards his bellybutton. Alec’s abs clenched as Magnus’ hands ran across them. “Mmmm, Alexander, you’re fucking gorgeous.”

Alec ducked his head at Magnus’ words, thankful he didn’t blush, and made quick work of the buttons on Magnus’ shirt. He brought the shirt down Magnus’ arms and let it fall to the floor behind him, his hands landing to rest on Magnus’ hips. Alec leaned forward and mouthed Magnus’ smooth skin, placing kisses up his chest. Magnus dropped his head back as Alec continued his way up to his neck, pausing to dip his tongue into Magnus’ collarbone. Magnus jerked on Alec’s lap as he reached the space on his neck below his ear.

“You, Magnus Bane, are fucking beautiful,” Alec said huskily in Magnus’ ear before gently biting down on his ear lobe.

“Oh f-fuck,” Magnus whimpered. The sound went straight to Alec’s cock, he _needed_ to hear Magnus make it again. He kissed behind Magnus’ ear and nipped softly at the sensitive skin there. “Fuckkkk,” Magnus whimpered again, the word coming out as one long moan ending with a hard “ck.”

Alec moved his mouth to cover Magnus,’ he was desperate to taste him again. Magnus opened his mouth greedily, rolling his tongue over Alec’s tongue.

Magnus’ hands slid from where he’d been grasping Alec’s biceps to Alec’s chest, his fingers grazed over Alec’s nipples. His body jolted like he’d been shocked. Magnus pulled back to look into Alec’s eyes, a mischievous grin on his face, “I have other intentions right now, but,” he paused to rub small circles over Alec’s nipples, “I want to explore this more another day.”

“Oh fucking christ,” was all Alec could manage. His body’s response to Magnus’ touch was intense, his hips jerked up into Magnus and his muscles clenched.

He relaxed slightly when Magnus turned his attention to gliding his fingertips lightly over the rest of Alec’s torso. He paused at the top of Alec’s jeans, the button resting below his hands, “Is this okay?”

“Yes,” Alec said, nearly pleading.

His body tensed as Magnus expertly undid his jeans, “Sit up darling,” Magnus murmured. Magnus stood up from where he’d been straddling Alec. Alec did as Magnus asked, sitting up and raising his hips. Magnus pulled Alec’s jeans and boxers down in a smooth motion, letting them puddle at Alec’s feet before tossing them aside.

Alec had been leaking precome since the moment he’d heard Magnus whimper and now, free from the constraints of his jeans, Alec’s cock dripped lewdly onto his stomach.

“Fuck,” Magnus breathed from where he still stood, his eyes glued to Alec’s cock. Magnus licked his lips, leaving them shiny with saliva.

Alec didn’t feel any of the bashfulness he usually associated with moments like this, something about the raw longing on Magnus’ face made him feel sexy.

Magnus’ eyes moved slowly up to Alec’s face, “Alexander,” he said, voice hoarse with desire, “fuck, Alec, please, let me put my mouth on you.”

“Oh my god, Magnus,” Alec managed to say. “Yes, yes definitely yes.”

Magnus looked Alec in the eyes as he sank to his knees in front of where he sat on the couch. He leaned forward and placed a kiss on the inside of Alec’s right knee, he continued kissing and licking up his thigh. Magnus’ hand trailed up after his mouth, stopping just shy of Alec’s cock. Magnus pulled his head back and began kissing his way from Alec’s left knee.

He’s going to kill me, Alec thought, this teasing will actually kill me. Magnus chuckled into Alec’s thigh as if he’d heard his thoughts, “Patience Alexander.” He reached up and put a hand over Alec’s. Alec hadn’t realized that he’d clenched it tightly at his side. He forced himself to relax his hands, Magnus slipped his fingers through Alec’s, holding tightly to him as his mouth finally reached Alec’s achingly hard cock.

Alec took a deep breath, desperate to center himself. It was all in vain though as Magnus took that moment to lick slowly up Alec’s cock. He skillfully swirled his tongue from the base up to the tip before dipping his tongue into the slit. “Mmmmmm,” he purred, and Alec’s mind went blank.

Magnus released his hand from Alec’s and moved it to stroke Alec’s cock, his grip firm as he moved it up and down. Alec opened his mouth but before he could get any words out Magnus looked up into his eyes as he engulfed Alec’s cock in the wet, warmth of his mouth. 

“Jesus fucking christ, holy fuck,” a string of blasphemous curses tumbled from Alec’s mouth as he stared down at the sight between his legs. 

Magnus still held his gaze, his golden-brown eyes glinting in the dim lights of the room. His lips were stretched obscenely around Alec’s cock, already red and slick with saliva as he bobbed his head up and down. Magnus had kept his hand at the base of Alec’s cock and was using it to pump what length he couldn’t fit in his mouth. It took all of Alec’s willpower not to come right then. 

As if sensing that Alec was barely holding on Magnus hollowed his cheeks, tightening the seal of his mouth on Alec’s cock. He bobbed his head faster, moving his hand in time with the motion of his head.

Alec’s hands were clenched tightly next to his thighs, his nails digging into his palms as his eyes slammed shut. “Magnus,” he whimpered, “Magnus, I’m going to come, where –?”

Magnus cut him off, pulling off his mouth off Alec’s cock with an audible _pop_ , “Anywhere but my face,” he rasped. Alec opened his eyes to look down at Magnus, his lips were swollen, and his eyes were dark with lust. Magnus didn’t take his eyes off Alec’s face as he continued to pump Alec’s cock with one hand. He reached out to take Alec’s balls in his other hand, playing with them gently.

“Oh, fuck, fuck,” Alec cried out as Magnus’ continued to jerk his cock with firm strokes, twisting his fist over the head. Alec felt his body tense before he came with a shout, his come shooting from between Magnus’ fingers onto his bare chest, the come dripping down his body contrasting sharply with Magnus’ bronze skin. Alec went still, the pleasure from his orgasm still washing over him.

“Jesus,” he breathed.

Magnus looked up with him, a smiled played on his lips, “You can just call me Magnus,” he said before swiping his finger through the come on his chest and bringing it to his lips.

“Fucking hell, Magnus,” Alec couldn’t believe the man in front of him. Magnus looked thoroughly debauched, his eyeliner was smudged, and his once perfectly styled hair was a wreck. Alec didn’t think he’d ever seen anything sexier. He leaned forward and took Magnus’ face in his hands, tasting himself on Magnus’ tongue as he kissed him deeply.

Magnus’ all but purred into his mouth, putting his hands on Alec’s thighs as he leaned harder into the kiss. Alec pulled away, “So, uh, can I return the favor?” He looked down at Magnus’ pants, they were tight across his cock, Alec licked his lips subconsciously, eager to taste Magnus.

“Alexander,” Magnus began, “don’t feel like you need to –”

Alec broke in quickly, “Magnus, I _want_ to.”

Magnus looked at him for a moment before nodding, “Take whatever you want Alexander.”

Alec didn’t take any time to think, he grasped Magnus’ hands from his thighs and pulled him up from the floor. Standing up Alec shifted to spin Magnus, giving himself room to sink to his knees in front of Magnus. Alec had only given a handful of blow jobs in his life, but it had been the one thing he’d always felt confident about being able to do well.

Alec reached to unbutton Magnus’ pants, pulling them and his briefs down so that Magnus could step out of them. Alec watched as Magnus’ cock sprang free, hard and dripping with precome. Alec deposited the rest of Magnus’ clothes on the floor next to the rest of their long forgotten garments.

Alec looked up at Magnus from his spot on the plush rug on the floor, he could see Magnus breathing heavily as he looked back at Alec. “Don’t do anything you don’t wan –” Magnus never finished his sentence. Alec reached out and grabbed Magnus’ cock, pumping it twice before sinking his mouth down.

Alec bobbed his head experimentally, swallowing down around Magnus’ cock. The taste of Magnus’ precome in his mouth leaving him wanting more. It had been with Paulo that Alec realized he didn’t have much of a gag reflex, and also that he loved having his face fucked.

He pulled back and took a breath. Looking up into Magnus’ eyes he sank his mouth down Magnus’ cock, not stopping until his nose met Magnus’ hard stomach.

“Holy mother of fuck, Ale-Alexander,” Magnus cried out as his hips jerked forward involuntarily, slamming his cock further down Alec’s throat. “Fuck, shit, I’m so sorry.”

Alec pulled off of Magnus’ cock and looked up at him, “Magnus, you’re good. I don’t have a gag reflex.” He gave Magnus a confident smile and took one of the other man’s hands, placing it in his own dark hair and then moving back to Magnus’ cock. “You can use me if you want,” he said before gripping the backs of Magnus’ thighs and taking him into his mouth.

He moaned around Magnus’ cock when he felt Magnus’ other hand come up to join the first in his hair, both tightening as he continued to deep throat Magnus. The wet sound of Magnus’ cock in Alec’s throat seemed to echo around them before joining with whatever music was still playing in the room.

On one of Alec’s next downward motions with his head he felt Magnus move his hips cautiously, meeting Alec’s mouth. Alec felt a stirring of heat in his abdomen begin again at the feeling. _Use me_ , he thought to himself, willing Magnus to do it again.

As if he could hear Alec’s thoughts Magnus pushed his hips forward again, holding Alec’s hair tightly, and began fucking Alec’s mouth, slowly at first before speeding up. Alec’s eyes fluttered closed in pleasure as Magnus took control.

“Fuck, Alexander, fuck,” Magnus stuttered, “fuck, there’s no fucking way you, Jesus fucking christ, no fucking way you haven’t done this before.”

Alec glanced up at Magnus, the other man’s face was thrown back in ecstasy, the sticky come on his chest now mixing with sweat as he fucked Alec’s face, pulling back to let him catch his breath every so often. Alec reached down and began stroking his cock, not at all surprised to find himself so hard. The sounds that Magnus was making and the way his hips kept pushing his cock deeper down Alec’s throat were driving Alec crazy.

Magnus pulled Alec’s head off his cock as he caught his breath. He looked down to see Alec pumping his cock, “Shit, Alexander, are you going to come again?” he panted.

Alec nodded, “Make sure you come in my mouth,” he said not taking his blue eyes off Magnus’ face. Magnus growled deep in his throat and grabbed Alec’s hair, Alec eagerly opened his mouth to let Magnus’ cock back in.

Magnus began to fuck into Alec’s mouth in earnest, no longer seeming to hold back. Alec kept one hand gripped on the back of Magnus’ thigh and the other moved quickly up and down his cock. His eyes closed in pleasure as he felt the familiar stirrings of an orgasm building.

Alec could feel drool spilling out of the corners of his mouth as Magnus’ thrusts became more erratic. “Fuck, christ, Alec, I’m going to come, fuck,” his muscles beneath Alec’s hand tightened as his cock pulsed in his mouth. He shot thick spurts of come down Alec’s throat and Alec worked to swallow every drop.

The slightly bitter taste in his mouth as Magnus continued to fuck into him through his climax drove Alec over the edge. He came between his legs where he kneeled, his own orgasm less intense than the first one he’d just had. He stopped jerking himself, his cock sensitive from overstimulation, and pulled his mouth off Magnus.

Magnus’ eyes were closed, and his legs were shaking; Alec pushed Magnus gently towards the couch. Magnus sat heavily and put his head on the back of the cushions.

Alec stood on wobbly legs and walked to the bathroom, he grabbed a washcloth and ran it under warm water. After cleaning himself up and rinsing the towel he went back to Magnus and sat down beside him. Magnus cracked open an eye and looked at him, “How are you even moving right now? Didn’t you just come twice?”

Alec laughed and reached to wipe off Magnus’ chest where his come was still splattered, “Well, I am younger than you,” he answered. Earlier in the evening Raphael had asked his age and then exclaimed that Magnus was a cradle robber when he realized there was a five year age difference.

Magnus gasped dramatically and took the washcloth from Alec so that he could finish cleaning up. “Just wait, you’ll be thirty soon and mind-blowing orgasms will leave you spent.” He tossed the washcloth onto the pile of his clothes and reached to pull Alec against him. Alec put his arm across Magnus’ stomach and laid his head on his chest, listening to the rhythmic sound of his heart.

They stayed like that, sitting in contented silence as Magnus traced patterns with his fingertips on Alec’s back and hummed along to the quiet music. It was Magnus who broke the silence first, “So blow jobs and stuff, huh?” Alec could hear the smile in his voice.

“Yup, blow jobs and stuff,” he laughed. “I should warn you that what you experienced tonight is about the extent of my knowledge, I’m pretty laughable in all other departments.”

Magnus reached for Alec’s chin, he tilted it up so that Alec had to meet his eyes, “I don’t think anything about you is laughable Alexander.” Alec felt the heat of a blush creep up his neck, “Plus, I have a feeling you’re going to be a quick learner.” Magnus went on grinning wickedly, “And I can’t wait to be your teacher.”

At that Alec was sure his face caught on fire based on how hot it felt. He glanced up from where he’d buried his face against Magnus,’ heart beating in his chest he asked, “So you’re still okay with this? With me? I know you could easily be with someone more experienced…”

Magnus looked at him as his sentence trailed off, eyebrow raised in amusement, “Alexander, I’ve meant everything I’ve said tonight, stop acting like I’m going to take it all back,” he leaned forward and kissed the top of Alec’s head. “And I meant what I said about being your teacher,” he mused into Alec’s hair.

Alec smiled to himself, for once letting the fears that normally consumed him fall away and allowing himself to just enjoy the moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Weeeeee they finally had the big talk! And boy did it go well haha. I'd say to expect at least a lil smut in all future chapters ;)
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Any comments, critiques, kudos, and general lovin's are always appreciated xx
> 
> Things have been super busy in my work life (this is what I get for starting a story during the farming season...oy!) so I think realistically I won't be able to post a chapter every week, it'll probably be more like every two weeks.


	9. The Hunky Blue-Eyed God of Sexy Sexy Stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His disappointment must have been apparent because Raphael looked at him with disdain, “What? You told me to come by as soon as possible, you said “oh-em-gee Raphael you have to come to the store I have something to show you.” Raphael swished his hand dramatically as he mimicked Magnus.
> 
> Tessa choked back a laugh and gave Raphael a hug, “Be nice, he’s expecting his boyfriend.”
> 
> Magnus opened his mouth to correct Tessa, he and Alec weren’t official yet, but Raphael started talking first, “The porn guy? They’re still a thing?”
> 
> “Yup, Magnus has been floating around all week, leaving all the time for secret love meetings.” Tessa was grinning over Raphael’s shoulder at Magnus.
> 
> “It all sounds very nauseating,” Raphael said sounding bored.
> 
> “This is how rumors get started,” Magnus said looking pointedly at Tessa. “Tessa, Alec is not my boyfriend and we haven’t been having ‘secret love meetings,’ whatever the fuck that is. We’ve met for coffee, twice. And you,” Magnus fixed his gaze on Raphael, “stop calling him porn guy! We don’t porn shame people in this store, he writes erotica. It’s not the same thing.”

Magnus glanced around Bane’s Erotica, Books, & Toys, the store was full of customers staring wide-eyed around at the bright displays Magnus and his team had installed for Pride. Two young queer women were stopped in front of a large display of harnesses and dildos looking overwhelmed at the selection, Magnus saw Tessa walking towards them and smiled to himself, Tessa had a knack for helping women pick out the best harness and dildo. Magnus looked over to the registers to check on Jem and Will, the two men were chatting amicably with customers, offering suggestions for care of sex toys or additional information about what the customer was interested in. Things were running smoothly yet Magnus couldn’t shake the nerves he was feeling.

Magnus nearly jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, “Earth to Magnus,” Tessa was looking up at him, an amused expression on her face. “Do I even have to guess what you’re thinking about? Perhaps a certain tall, dark and handsome author.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Magnus said, his eyes flicking to the door. His heart kept skipping every time he heard the bell chimed with someone coming in or out.

“You mean you’re not watching the door to see if that certain someone has gotten here yet because you have plans tonight?” Magnus forced himself to look at Tessa, she was smiling at him. “You’re allowed to be excited about seeing him Magnus.”

“Fine, Tessa, yes, I am looking to see if Alec is here yet. I know I’ve seen him twice since dinner at my place, but it was just quick cups of coffee. Things have been crazy, and I guess I’m excited to have a whole evening together.” Magnus straightened up a display of lesbian romance and erotica, a few books by Radclyffe had gotten mixed in with some by Harper Bliss. He fixed the display and turned back to face Tessa, she was grinning broadly over his shoulder.

Heart thudding, Magnus spun on his heel expecting to see Alec standing behind him, “Raphael!” Tessa exclaimed as Magnus turned and caught sight of his friend.

His disappointment must have been apparent because Raphael looked at him with disdain, “What? You told me to come by as soon as possible, you said “oh-em-gee Raphael you have to come to the store I have something to show you.” Raphael swished his hand dramatically as he mimicked Magnus.

Tessa choked back a laugh and gave Raphael a hug, “Be nice, he’s expecting his boyfriend.”

Magnus opened his mouth to correct Tessa, he and Alec weren’t official yet, but Raphael started talking first, “The porn guy? They’re still a thing?”

“Yup, Magnus has been floating around all week, leaving all the time for secret love meetings.” Tessa was grinning over Raphael’s shoulder at Magnus.

“It all sounds very nauseating,” Raphael said sounding bored.

“This is how rumors get started,” Magnus said looking pointedly at Tessa. “Tessa, Alec is not my boyfriend and we haven’t been having ‘secret love meetings,’ whatever the fuck that is. We’ve met for coffee, twice. And you,” Magnus fixed his gaze on Raphael, “stop calling him porn guy! We don’t porn shame people in this store, he writes erotica. It’s not the same thing.”

“Someone needs to get laid,” Tessa muttered under her breath, Raphael rolled his eyes at Tessa.

Magnus took a deep breath, he loved his friends dearly, but they tended to derail conversations. “Raphael, thank you for finally coming, Tessa and I put together a display we wanted you to see.”

“Oh!” Tessa clapped her hands together excitedly, “We did! Raphael, you’re going to love it.”

Raphael looked stricken, “What have you done? My face isn’t on a display is it?”

Magnus hooked his arm through Raphael’s and guided him to the book section of the store. Magnus and Tessa had come up with a small display of books (both fictional and educational) and swag for each of the letters in the LGBTIA+ alphabet. The “A” display held copies of _The Invisible Orientation: An Introduction to Asexuality_ by Julie Decker and Raphael’s memoir he’d just gotten published the year before _I’m Not Gay, I’m Not Straight, I’m Not Interested_. The ace flag was on display alongside mugs, buttons, and t-shirts that said things like “My Sexual Preference Is Nope” and “I’d Rather Eat Cake.”

Raphael came to a stop in front of the display, his mouth opening but no words coming out. Tessa put her arm around Raphael, giving him a squeeze, “What do you think?”

Raphael cleared his throat and looked at his friends, “You’ve come a long way from that pittance of an ace section you had four years ago.” He looked back at the display and smiled, “Thanks.”

Tessa and Magnus moved in to surround Raphael, squishing him between the two of them in a tight hug. “He likes it!” Tessa said gleefully. 

“He really, really likes it!” Magnus echoed. He and Tessa were grinning broadly at Raphael as they stepped back from him. Raphael looked thoroughly displeased at the sudden display of affection by his friends. 

“Jesus, was that necessary?” He wiped at his clothes as if the hug had left him covered in lint. 

“Absolutely,” Tessa answered seriously. 

“One hundred percent.” Magnus said and then turned quickly when he heard the door chime, not actually expecting to see Alec but not able to help himself either. 

Isabelle Lightwood stood in the doorway, her long brown hair pulled up in a big bun. She was wearing a pencil skirt and sleeveless blouse with spiky heels. She turned to look out the door like she was waiting for someone and a few moments later Alec came in. Next to his sister Alec looked disheveled. He was wearing a faded blue t-shirt and worn jeans with sneakers, his dark hair was sticking up in all different directions and his normally clean-shaven face was scruffy. Magnus wondered what that scruff would feel like when they kissed, and he was eager to find out as soon as possible.

Alec’s blue eyes quickly found Magnus and they crinkled at the edges as he broke into a wide grin. It had been like that each time Magnus saw Alec over the last week, the younger man would catch sight of him and suddenly smile brightly. Magnus couldn’t help the flutter in his heart knowing that the smile was for him.

Izzy turned to see where her brother was looking, seeing Magnus she elbowed Alec, saying something that made him blush immediately. Magnus felt someone smack his arm, Tessa had a sly grin on her face, “I’m digging the facial hair your boyfriend has.”

Magnus spun to glare at his friend, “Tessa! I told you he’s not my –,” Magnus stopped talking when he felt a hand on the small of his back as Alec came to stand beside him, he cleared his throat, “I told you that customer didn’t need our help.” He looked at Alec and brushed the scruff on Alec’s face with his hand, “Well, hello handsome, you should grow this out more often.”

Alec ducked his head, grinning as he looked at the floor, “Hey Magnus.”

Izzy bounded up behind Alec, she had a shopping basket resting in the crook of her elbow; Magnus was surprised to see that it was already quite full, Izzy worked quick. “Magnus it’s sooooo good to see you again!” She leaned in and gave him a one-armed hug, pulling back she looked down at his shirt, her face lighting up, “Oh my god, I need this shirt, tell me you sell it!”

Alec looked down at Magnus’ shirt and laughed, “You definitely need a shirt like that Izzy.” Magnus had had his shirt made just like he’d done his employees, with a funny saying on the front and the Bane’s Erotica, Books, & Toys logo on the back. Magnus’ shirt said, “I Put The Bi In Bitch,” the letters in blue, purple and pink.

“It’s over there,” Magnus pointed at the “B” display, “next to the Binosaur shirts.” He laughed as Izzy squealed and ran over to start adding more items to her basket.

Alec had greeted Raphael somewhat nervously and then gave Tessa a hug, “It’s great to see you again Tessa.”

Tessa smiled and embraced Alec, “You too Alec, I just love seeing Magnus’ _friends_.” She peeked around Alec as she put extra emphasis on the word ‘friends.’

Magnus couldn’t believe Tessa, he shook his head at her and ran his finger across her throat, “You’re dead,” he mouthed.

Alec had missed the whole interaction between Magnus and Tessa, his attention drawn to the “A” display behind Raphael, “Raphael! I didn’t know you’d written a book.” He grabbed a copy of the book and opened the cover, “We have the same publisher!” Alec grinned at Raphael who just scowled at him.

“Oh wow, we have _soooo_ much in common,” Raphael rolled his eyes and picked up a “My Sexual Preference Is Nope” coffee mug. “I’m buying this,” he held up the mug to Magnus.

Alec was staring down at the cover of Raphael’s book, “Your sexuality is ‘not interested’?” he asked the question curiously, oblivious to the minefield he’d just walked into.

Raphael snapped his head to look at Alec, a furrow in his brow, “That’s right.” He looked like he was going to say more but Alec tucked the book under his arm and smiled at Raphael.

“Okay cool, I’ll admit I don’t know as much as I should about asexuality and the other groups within the LGBT+ community, but I’m sure your book will be a good place to start.” Alec’s sincerity was obvious on his face, his expression was open, and Magnus didn’t doubt that Alec had every intention of reading Raphael’s book.

Raphael squinted at Alec for a moment and then relaxed, “If you’re actually interested you should get the other book too, Julie does a good job explaining the many facets of the ace community.”

Alec nodded and picked up _The Invisible Orientation_ , “Good to know, thanks Raphael.”

Raphael’s lips twitched as if he was going to smile at Alec, but he stopped himself, “I have plans for dinner, but I hope I see you soon Alec. Thanks for all this,” he gestured at the display and gave Tessa and Magnus a quick hug, he nodded at Alec and walked over to the register.

“I can’t tell, does he hate me?” Alec was looking after Raphael with a confused expression.

“Trust me, you’d know if he hated you,” Tessa laughed and walked over to the where Will and Jem stood chatting with Raphael.

“The opposite, I think he might like you,” Magnus put his arm around Alec’s waist and pulled him close. “Hi,” he tilted his head down to brush his lips against Alec’s cheek.

He felt Alec’s cheek turn up in a smile against his mouth, Alec pulled back and his eyes were twinkling, “Hey yourself.” He leaned in and gave Magnus a kiss on the lips, his hand moving to the small of Magnus’ back to pull him closer.

“Shut the fuck up,” Izzy’s voice broke through the haze that surrounded the two men. “You guys are literally too adorable; Alec you couldn’t have picked a better boyfri –,” Alec’s hand flew out and clamped down over his sister’s mouth.

“A better friend?” Alec asked Izzy, his eyes wide as he stared intently at his sister. “Yes, I agree Magnus is great. Right?” He nodded his head at his sister who rolled her eyes and nodded her head too. Alec pulled his hand back, wiping it off on his jeans, “Gross. I can’t believe you licked my hand, we live in New York.”

Izzy disregarded her brother, “Whatever germ freak.” She held up her basket for Magnus to see, “So I might have done a little shopping.”

Magnus spared a glance and saw that her basket was completely full. He tried not to look too hard at what was in the basket, but he did see that she’d picked out a Hitachi Magic Wand, a brightly colored dildo, lube, and a tank-top version of the shirt that Magnus was wearing, Izzy and Clary were in for a good time. “I hope you found everything you needed,” he said with a wink.

Izzy grinned at him, “I think so, Clary and I broke my wand, so I _had_ to get a new one, everything else I didn’t realize I needed!” She laughed and elbowed her brother who’d turned a bright shade of pink. “C’mon Alec, they’re just sex toys!” Alec groaned and brought his hands up to cover his face.

Taking pity on Alec Magnus put an arm around his waist and murmured in his ear so that only Alec could hear, “Do you see anything that _you_ need Alexander?”

Alec didn’t answer immediately, he peeked at Magnus through his fingers before pulling his hands away from his face. Alec cleared his throat, “Uh, Izzy, I’m sure you want to get going? Like now-ish?”

Izzy’s looked confused, “I thought we could all head to Brooklyn together. I mean, we’re going to almost the same place Alec.” She paused, “Unless you want me to leave right now for some reason?” her eyebrow went up as she waited for Alec to answer.

“Nope, nope, no reason. We can definitely all go together, it’ll be, uh, neat.” Alec wasn’t looking at Izzy, Magnus saw that his gaze was had wandered to the sex toy section of the store.

Izzy still looked skeptical, but she just gave Alec a look and turned to Magnus, “Alright, well I’m going to go buy this stuff, you ready for this _neat_ trip we’re all in for?”

Magnus laughed, “Sure thing, I’ve just got to check in with Tessa before we head out.” Izzy nodded and left. “Alexander, can I show you something in my office before we leave?”

“M-me?” Alec looked around like there was someone else Magnus could be addressing.

Magnus steered Alec towards the back of the store where his office was. “Yes you, c’mon.”

Once they were behind the closed door of the office Magnus spun to face Alec, “You never answered my question,” he purred running his hand down Alec’s chest. “Can I get you anything while we’re here?”

Magnus watched Alec swallow and look around the office, “Oh, uh, I dunno, maybe? I’ve never, uh, used anything with another person?” Alec wouldn’t meet Magnus’ eyes as his cheeks flushed.

“Well,” Magnus said as he walked over to his desk, “I was thinking that maybe we could use some toys together before we have sex. I thought it would be a fun way to explore each other sexually without taking that big step just yet. Would that be okay with you?”

Alec’s shoulders relaxed and he gave Magnus a small smile, “Yeah, I, uh, I like that idea a lot. Um, what kind of things were you thinking?” His took another step into the room and looked around.

Magnus clapped his hands together and smiled at Alec, “I’d been hoping you’d say that! We just got a bunch of new products in from Fun Factory and I saw this and thought of you.” Magnus put a large cardboard box on his desk and pulled out a blue slightly-curved dildo, “It’s the same color as your eyes!”

Alec walked over and looked at the dildo, it was still in its package, but he could see that it was made from silicone and probably six or seven inches long. Magnus was right, it was the same shade of blue as Alec’s eyes. Alec looked nervously at Magnus, “Wh-what would we d –”

Alec’s sentence was cut off by Tessa’s voice coming through the phone intercom on Magnus’ desk, “Magnus you in your office? Alec’s sister is looking for you guys.”

Magnus shook his head at the phone and picked it up, “Hey Tessa, we’re coming out now. You going to be all set to close tonight? Mhmm, okay, perfect. Thanks!” Magnus hung up the phone and looked at Alec, “I guess we need to head out, but hold onto that thought Alexander, we can chat more when we get to your place.”

Alec looked up and took a deep breath, “God, I’m going to kill Izzy one of these days.” He looked into Magnus’ eyes, “Can we, uh, bring this with us?” He gestured to the blue dildo.

Magnus’ eyes lit up, “Yes! Would you mind if I grabbed a few other little things too? Not that we have to use them tonight, just for whenever…”

“Yes,” Alec broke in eagerly, “whatever you want.” He blushed, “I mean, sure, sounds neat.”

Magnus turned to the shelf behind his desk, smiling at how adorable Alec was, “It’ll be a neat time for sure.” Magnus put a brand new bottle of lube, a box of condoms, a vibrator, and butt plug into his messenger bag alongside the blue dildo. He saw Alec looking curiously at the bag, “Don’t worry, it’s just a little bit of this and that,” he said with a wink.

Alec chuckled, “Oh, I’m not worried, just excited.” His phone buzzed from his pocket, he pulled it out and sighed, “Hi Izzy,” he said into it, “we’re coming now.” Alec looked at Magnus, “I’m sorry. My sister has no chill sometimes.”

Magnus laughed and grabbed Alec’s hand to lead him back out into the store, “I’ve never had any siblings, but I think it’s sweet how close you all are.”

“Sweet is one word,” Alec responded with a laugh. “Now, let’s go get this neat subway trip to Brooklyn together over with. You and I have dinner plans tonight.”

***

Magnus, Izzy and Alec emerged up onto the sidewalk in Williamsburg. They were a few blocks from Café Alicante near where Izzy and Clary had made plans to meet for drinks. Izzy had talked almost nonstop with Magnus on the subway ride out of Greenwich Village. Alec hadn’t realized how often her sister had frequented Magnus’ store, but it seemed like she’d been a patron of Bane’s Erotica, Books, & Toys for a few years now. He tried not to think too much about what that meant but Magnus was open about all things erotica and sex toy related so Izzy had shared more than Alec cared to hear.

“So, Izzy where’d you say you were meeting Clary?” Alec asked as they started walking in the general direction that would lead them back to Alec’s apartment. He and Magnus could have transferred to another train but Alec thought that the fifteen minute walk to his Greenpoint neighborhood would be nice on an evening like this.

“I think it’s called The Institute? I’d never heard of it, but Clary’s been raving about it all week.” Izzy looked around and suddenly smiled brightly, “Clary!” She took off at a brisk walk in the direction of the petite redhead who was ahead of them on the sidewalk.

Clary spun around and grinned as Izzy came up next to her, “Hey gorgeous.” She stood on her tiptoes to kiss Izzy softly on the lips. Izzy flushed slightly at the compliment. “Oh!” Clary exclaimed as she took in Alec and Magnus standing behind Izzy, “I didn’t know you guys were coming for drinks!”

Alec started to say that he and Magnus were actually heading back to his apartment, but Izzy cut in, “Oh yes! You guys should come for just a drink or two.” She looked at Alec and stuck out her bottom lip, “Please?”

Alec turned to Magnus, Magnus was barely holding back a smile, “Would you mind having a quick drink with them?”

He put his hand on Alec’s arm, “A drink sounds fine with me. And, I bet its still happy hour!”

“One drink,” Alec said looking back at Izzy who squealed with delight.

Alec regretted agreeing to the drinks almost immediately as Izzy exclaimed to the whole sidewalk, “Double date!”

Magnus laughed and followed the grinning Clary and Izzy, Alec grumbled to himself about just wanting to spend time along with Magnus, but he couldn’t help the smile that came to his lips when he saw Magnus embrace Clary tightly. Alec sighed and followed the three into The Institute.

The Institute was a spacious restaurant and bar with polished cement floors and high ceilings. Izzy and Clary snagged a bar top table in the window for the four of them and promptly ordered a ‘Shisho Fine and ‘Something in the Whey,’ whatever the hell that meant. Apparently, The Institute specialized in puny cocktail names. Magnus laughed as he ordered himself a ‘Mint to Be’ and Alec searched the menu for a minute trying to find something that sounded familiar, when nothing stood out to him he simply ordered an ‘About Thyme.’

“About time is right,” the server said as he took the menus back. Izzy, Clary, and Magnus all cracked up as Alec stared openmouthed after the man.

“Lighten up brother, you were taking forever to pick out a drink,” Izzy said taking a sip of the water the server had brought over. Alec opened his mouthed to argue with his sister, but Magnus put his hand on Alec’s knee under the table and gave it a squeeze.

“So, ladies, how long have you been dating?” Magnus asked, quickly changing the subject. “Was Alexander’s reading at the store where it all began? You know you’re not the first relationship to begin at Bane’s Erotica, Books, & Toys.”

Clary put her hand over Izzy’s where it lay on the table, “I mean, that’s basically what happened, though I think we first bonded over the lack of fashionable clothes this one has.” Clary looked pointedly at Alec.

“My clothes are perfectly functional,” Alec said defensively.

“Exactly!” Izzy said, “They’re functional for an author who spends all his time writing at home or in coffee shops. But you need clothes to wear out other times too Alec.” She looked at Magnus, “Magnus, didn’t Alec look great when you guys went for dinner at Via Pomodoro?”

Magnus looked at Alec and gave him a smile that made Alec’s stomach flutter, “I think he looks great in anything.” Magnus leaned in close and put his mouth next to Alec’s ear, “Or nothing,” he said quietly so that only Alec could hear. Alec felt his face heat up but the feeling in his stomach intensified as he thought about how little clothing he and Magnus had been wearing just a week ago.

“Earth to Alec?” Alec looked up to find Izzy and Clary looking at him with amused smiles on their faces.

“Hm?” Alec had no idea what they’d been talking about. Magnus had started rubbing his thumb in circles above Alec’s knee, it was very distracting.

“I asked if you’ve thought about doing anymore readings or events. Your first one went so well, and Iz told me your website comment section has been blowing up with people asking when the next reading will be.” Clary was nestled close to Izzy and looking at Alec with interest.

“Oh, um, maybe I guess? I’ve been busy writing my newest book, so I haven’t thought that much about it.” Alec scrunched his face up at the thought of doing another reading, “I haven’t been on the comment page of my site in a long time, I didn’t realize people would be talking about the reading on there.”

“I’ll send you some of the good ones,” Izzy said, pausing as their server came over with the drinks. After he’d left Izzy leaned forward conspiratorially, “I believe one commenter called you a “hunky blue-eyed god of sexy sexy stories.””

Magnus and Clary laughed, and Alec groaned, “That’s why I don’t go on there! What am I even supposed to do with that? Just say, “Cool, thanks?” or something?”

Izzy grinned at Alec, “As your literary agent I advise against responding to comments about your hunkiness.” She held up her glass, “A little toast?”

Everyone held their drinks up, Alec looked skeptically at his but held it up, “What are we toasting?” he asked looking at Izzy.

“Your hunkiness, duh,” she laughed.

“I’ll toast to that!” Magnus said with a wink at Alec.

Clary rolled her eyes at Izzy but cheerfully clinked her glass with everyone.

Alec sniffed his drink, it smelled like thyme and cantaloupe. He took a small sip and was pleased to find the flavors were a refreshing combination. He took a larger sip and looked up to find Magnus watching him.

“Is it any good?” Magnus asked gesturing at Alec’s drink.

“Surprisingly yes,” Alec said. He held out his glass, “Do you want to try it?”

Magnus nodded and took the glass, “You can try mine too.”

Alec looked at Magnus’ drink, it was garnished with a lemon and fresh mint, he took an apprehensive sip. The taste of apple brandy and falernum overwhelmed his senses, he suppressed a shudder, he’d never liked brandy much.

“Not ‘Mint to Be’ for you huh?” Magnus guessed.

“Nope, definitely not mint for me.” Alec took his drink back from Magnus and drank some to try and clear the taste of brandy from his tongue. He looked across the table at Izzy and Clary, they’d put their heads close together and were speaking quietly to one another. “You think they’d notice if we left as soon as we finish these?” he asked Magnus in a loud whisper.

“We can hear you,” Izzy said.

“Oh good, then you’ll know we’re leaving after this,” Alec said. “I still have to make us dinner. I mean I did a lot of prep earlier before our meeting at your office, but it needs to be cooked.”

“I still don’t know where you learned to make edible food, everyone hates my cooking.” Izzy looked at Clary who wouldn’t meet her eyes.

“You’re a danger in the kitchen Izzy,” Alec laughed.

Magnus looked surprised, “You didn’t learn to cook together growing up?”

Izzy let out a bark of laughter, “Maryse Lightwood doesn’t know how to cook, I’m not even sure what we ate as kids.”

Alec looked at Magnus, “I learned to cook when I started living on my own. I used to spend a lot of time on Pinterest looking at recipes.”

“Oh my god, Alec has the most intense Pinterest,” Clary began excitedly, “he let me see it one time when he was trying to show me something. There’s a board for basically every book he’s written with pictures and all kinds of stuff for the story’s inspiration. And then boards for recipes and tattoos and weddings and a bunch of other stuff. It’s weirdly organized.”

Alec looked at Clary, he’d felt himself start blushing when she said weddings, “I forgot you’d seen that.”

Magnus seemed delighted, “I LOVE Pinterest! I’m all over it for style inspiration and new fashion ideas. And recipes too!”

Alec started to mentally thank whomever was out there that made his sister not hear Clary’s comment, but Izzy jumped on it as soon as Magnus stopped talking. “Alec, I didn’t know you had a wedding Pinterest board, ummm why haven’t we talked about this before?”

Alec stared into his drink and took a big sip, nearly drinking have of it (the damn cocktail was tiny and $14!). “Well Izzy, I don’t know, I guess because it’s just a silly Pinterest board I made when I was twenty-four and depressed.” Alec unclenched his hand from around his glass and gave his sister a tight smile, “I forgot I even had it.”

Izzy narrowed her eyes at Alec but didn’t push the subject, sensing tension between the siblings Clary quickly started talking about the art history classes she’d been invited to teach at Barnard in the fall. Izzy drew her attention away from Alec and looked at Clary intently. Alec let out a breath and leaned back in his chair, trying to release some of the tension in his shoulders.

It was stupid how upset he’d felt at Izzy, but he’d forgotten about that Pinterest board. A shrink he’d been seeing at the time had made him do a bunch of exercises where he imagined what his future could look like (he’d been working through a lot of family stuff at the time). Alec had gotten carried away at some point and ended up basically planning a wedding. Alec was just thankful Clary hadn’t seen his “Dream House” and “Big Gay Family” boards.

Alec was brought back to the moment by a hand squeezing his thigh gently, he looked down at the long brown fingers and the many rings adorning them. He smiled and glanced up to catch Magnus’ eye. Magnus winked and tossed back the rest of his drink. Alec picked his up and finished it quickly.

“Well,” Alec said, “this was fun, thanks for the impromptu invite Izzy. Clary, it was so good to see you. Uh, so we’re leaving, bye?” He stood up and went to leave the table.

Magnus grabbed Alec’s hand and held it tightly, preventing him from walking away just yet, “I loved seeing you gorgeous women tonight! Maybe we can all do this again sometime? I’d love to hear more about your dissertation Clary.”

Alec took out his wallet and threw enough cash to cover his and Magnus’ drinks and a generous tip onto the table. “Yeah, yeah, next time. See you both later.” Alec gave a tug on Magnus’ hand.

Magnus laughed and let himself be pulled up, he grabbed his bag and winked at Izzy and Clary before following after Alec, “Have fun tonight.”

Clary looked confused, but Izzy broke into a wicked smile, “Oh we will.”

Alec gripped Magnus’ hand tightly and walked out into the warm Brooklyn night, taking a big breath once they’d gotten outside. Magnus came closer to him, putting the arm that had been in Alec’s hand around his waist. Alec’s nose was filled with the intoxicating scent of Magnus’ sandalwood soap as he snuggled in closer to Magnus.

“Where to?” Magnus asked after they’d walked a block.

“Oh! I forgot you have no idea where we’re going. Well, we could have taken the G train and gotten there quicker but I normally like to walk the fifteen minutes it takes to get to get to my place.” Alec stopped talking and paused on the sidewalk, feeling suddenly panicked, “Oh fuck, unless you don’t want to walk, I can get us a Lyft or something –”

Magnus cut Alec off with a quick kiss on his lips, he pulled back and grinned, “Walking sounds great.”

“O-okay, cool,” Alec said, “Um, well then we basically just walk straight for a while.”

“I’ll follow you this time,” Magnus said as they fell back into step, hands still linked. Alec spared a quick glance to his right, Magnus had a soft smile on his lips and looked perfectly at ease. Alec felt the knot that just formed in his stomach start to tighten, he hadn’t had anyone visit his apartment before that wasn’t one of his siblings or Clary and her family. He was nervous that Magnus wouldn’t like the way he’d decorated it over the years. Inviting someone into your home seemed like a huge deal and it was weighing on Alec, a lot.

Alec was brought out of his musing by a squeeze on his hand, he looked around and realized they were almost to his street. “We can’t go straight anymore,” Magnus said looking at the forked streets in front of them, and then laughing when he realized that neither of them was at all straight.

Alec laughed, “Good thing we’re turning left then.”

They walked halfway down the quiet street before Alec brought them to a stop in front of his building. It was a former pencil factory that had been refurbished into large loft apartments and condos. Alec had bought his large apartment when he was twenty-six, after his books finally started making him enough money to live comfortably. The two-bedroom apartment was more space than Alec needed but it had a large downstairs “bonus” room that he used as his office to write.

Alec led Magnus up the steps into the building and nodded at Sam, the elderly part-time doorman. Alec saw Sam’s eyebrow go up when he saw that Alec wasn’t alone. As far as Sam knew Alec never brought anyone home. Alec quickly ushered Magnus into the elevator and waved goodbye to Sam, who looked like he wanted to say something. “Have a good evening Sam!” he called.

The doors closed, and Alec leaned against the wall, certain that Sam had been about to comment that Magnus was the first guy the Alec had ever brought to his apartment.

“Uh, what floor?” Magnus asked, he looked amused.

“Oh fuck, uh, the third floor, I know we could’ve taken the stairs, but the elevator is right near my place.” Alec said as he pushed the number three button repeatedly.

Magnus pulled Alec’s hand back from the buttons. “So, what are we having for dinner?” he asked casually, gently running his thumb along the inside of Alec’s palm. The sensation nearly tickled but Alec didn’t want Magnus to stop touching him.

“Um, shakshuka and a kale salad, you said you ate basically anything, right?” Alec and Magnus walked out of the elevator hand-in-hand as the doors opened on the third floor. He scanned Magnus’ face to see if the other man didn’t like the sound of the meal, seeing no hint of disappointment or disgust Alec turned towards his door and unlocked it letting Magnus in first.

“Yum! I haven’t had shakshuka in ages,” Magnus said walking inside, he paused as he took in Alec’s apartment. “Oh, shit, what a cool place!” Magnus rushed inside to look around more.

Alec opened his mouth to ask Magnus if he wouldn’t mind taking off his shoes, but Magnus had stopped walking and was hopping on one foot wrestling his slip-on Toms off his feet. “Sorry! I remember you said you’re a no shoes house too.” He looked around and saw Alec’s large basket labelled “shoes” and tossed the red canvas shoes in the basket.

“Yeah! Thanks Magnus,” Alec said looking at Magnus’ bare brown feet, he smiled when he saw Magnus was wearing a golden toe-ring on his right foot.

Magnus didn’t notice Alec looking at his feet, he had started taking in the apartment but had stopped when Church came out of the living room to stare at Alec. “Oh, this gorgeous creature must be Church, right?” He reached down to pet Church who stared back at Magnus, a curious expression on his face.

“Wait! He hates –” Alec gawked as Magnus picked up Church and started holding the cat like a baby, rubbing his gray-furred belly. Instead of wrestling himself out of Magnus’ arms like he’d generally do to anyone except Alec the large cat had closed his eyes contentedly and was purring loudly.

“Hates what?” Magnus asked, stroking Church’s long fur.

“Huh, well, I was going to say new people and getting picked up, but I guess you’re the exception.” Alec looked after Magnus and Church, who had started walking out of the foyer to the living room. “Make yourself comfortable, I’m going to get dinner going. Do you want something to drink?”

“Wine if you have it,” Magnus said as he took in the large abstract painting Alec had on the exposed brick wall of his living room. “I love this, whose it by?”

Alec looked up through the large cut-out window in the kitchen where he’d started putting the ingredients for shakshuka into a cast iron skillet. “Oh, um, it’s Juan Lázaro Gutiérrez, I met him in Havana two years ago when I went with Clary and her ex-girlfriend. They both knew way more Spanish than me and Clary basically has a PhD in art stuff, so we spent a lot of our trip meeting artists and going to art museums. I mean, we did other things too, but they had a knack for turning every outing into an art adventure.”

“That sounds like really cool trip!” Magnus said turning to face Alec, he put Church down on Alec’s plush burgundy armchair; the cat looked after Magnus for a second before settling down. Magnus walked over to the half wall between the living room and kitchen and leaned on it, watching Alec move easily around the kitchen.

“It was a lot of fun, and I got to see a lot of Hemingway’s haunts around Havana, so it wasn’t all art, my writer’s heart got it’s fill too.” Alec smiled at where Magnus was leaning and realized he’d forgotten to give Magnus his drink. “Oh! Do you want red or white wine? I’ve got a few choices for both.”

“Whatever you’re having,” Magnus said, “I trust your taste.”

Alec turned away from Magnus to hide goofy smile on his face. Being around Magnus was so easy and he’d quickly forgotten all about his nerves surrounding Magnus coming to his apartment. He reached into the fridge and pulled out a chilled bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, feeling only excitement about the evening ahead of them.

***

Magnus took the glass chilled wine from Alec, their hands brushing briefly as he handed it to him. They clinked their glasses together and each took a sip. Magnus looked into Alec’s blue eyes, they had started to crinkle at the edges as Alec looked at Magnus over his wine glass.

Alec cleared his throat, “I made the salad earlier and the shakshuka shouldn’t take much longer, so feel free to explore until then. Church will probably follow you everywhere so don’t go snooping too hard.” Alec gave Magnus a failed wink that made Magnus’ heart skip a beat.

“I don’t think Church is going to spill any secrets, we’re besties now,” Magnus said. He turned away, excited to see more of Alec’s apartment. He was surprised to find that he really liked Alec’s style, everything was very cozy, and Magnus could tell Alec had taken great care to pick things out not just for looks but for comfort too. Alec must have turned on music from somewhere because the apartment was suddenly filled with a soul-like electronica. Magnus wasn’t familiar with the artist, but he liked the languid beat and smooth voice of the singer.

Magnus let his hips rock slowly to the beat as he wandered to the edge of the living room, looking at the paintings Alec had on the walls and the piles of books sitting on each coffee and end table. Reaching the far wall with two large windows Magnus was surprised to find a spiral staircase going down. He looked across the room at Alec who was humming to himself in the kitchen and back down the stairs. The light was on in the space below and Alec _had_ told him to explore.

Magnus didn’t think any more about it as he started down the stairs. He was amazed that the space below was so large. It had two big windows and three of its walls were exposed bricks, in the middle of the room was a large desk with a laptop on it and three big reading chairs. Magnus’ eyes were quickly drawn to the shelves and shelves of books. Earlier he had wondered if Alec had more books than the piles upstairs and it was exciting to see that Alec had an extensive collection downstairs.

Setting his glass of wine down on a table next to a chair Magnus went over to the nearest shelf and tilted his head to read the titles along the books’ spines. Magnus saw more than one book he owned himself and plenty that he’d carried at his store. Settled amongst the books were little knick-knacks and framed photos. Magnus picked one up of a young boy with brown hair and gray eyes, he had big glasses on and he was smiling broadly at the camera. Max, Magnus remembered, Alec and Izzy’s younger brother. He put the picture back down and picked his wine back up.

He went back up the stairs, the music getting louder as he went. He still didn’t recognize the song, but he could hear Alec singing quietly. Magnus stopped and smiled taking in the scene in front of him.

Alec had set a small table with plates and cutlery, two candles burning in the middle of the table. He was back in the kitchen, a dish towel slung over his shoulder as he did something in front of the stove. Magnus watched the handsome man dance slowly to the music, the lyrics filling the space.

_Talk is cheap, my darling / When you're feeling right at home / I wanna make you move with confidence / I wanna be with you alone_

Magnus smiled, thinking how more at ease Alec had seemed around him after he’d told Magnus that he’d never slept with anyone. While he’d been surprised by the revelation Magnus hadn’t been turned off by Alec’s lack of sexual history, and he was excited to be there to try things with Alec.

Magnus felt a shiver of anticipation go down his spine at the thought of the things he’d brought from the store. He’d been thinking a lot about the best way to ease into a sexual relationship with Alec. Alec had blushed his way through one of their coffee dates earlier in the week after Magnus candidly asked if Alec knew if he was interested in topping or bottoming, Magnus was happy either way but had wanted to know what Alec wanted. He was excited about Alec’s answer and hoped the blue dildo from his store would get put to good use tonight.

Dirty thoughts in mind, Magnus entered the kitchen and went behind Alec, wrapping his arms around him to splay his hands across Alec’s chest. He heard Alec’s breath catch at the touch, “This smells delicious Alexander,” Magnus murmured in Alec’s ear, he nibbled gently on it before kissing the back of Alec’s neck.

Alec shuddered beneath his touch, arching his back as he tilted his head back towards Magnus, “Mmmm, I’m glad because it’s all ready to be eaten.” He turned his face to catch Magnus’ lips.

Magnus forced himself to break the kiss, wanting nothing more than to devour Alec, but also feeling hungry. “Can I have you for dessert?” he asked playfully as Alec pulled away.

“You can have whatever you like,” Alec said. “Uh, so shall we?” He gestured at the two dishes in front of him.

“We shall,” Magnus answered. “But we’re going to pick this back up when we’re finished.” He winked at Alec and picked up the bowl of kale salad to bring to the table.

“I’m looking forward to it,” he heard Alec mutter behind him.

Me too, Magnus thought, me too.

***

Alec panted as he looked down at the sight in front of him. Both he and Magnus were fully undressed, their clothes dropped haphazardly somewhere between the living room and bedroom. It hadn’t taken long for Magnus to lay Alec out on his large bed, eyes dark with lust as he began slowly teasing Alec. It’d felt like forever, but Magnus had finally swallowed down his cock after kissing and biting across Alec’s body, all the while murmuring how beautiful Alec was. 

“Oh fuck,” he ground out, his thoughts snapping back to the new sensation. Magnus had started circling Alec’s rim with his finger, softly running his fingertip over the entrance. Alec pushed his hips down towards Magnus’ finger, craving more. “Fuck, Magnus, more, please.”

Alec could hear the smile in Magnus’ voice, “Alexander, I thought we said we were going to take this slow?”

“Fuck that, I want to feel your fingers inside me,” Alec’s body was trembling with impatience, “Enough teasing Magnus.”

Alec felt Magnus shift from the mattress, he cracked an eye open to see that Magnus had reached into the bag he’d brought from the store and pulled out a bottle of lube.

“Alexander,” Magnus said, voice suddenly serious, “I know you said you’ve done this to yourself before, but I need you to tell me if anything we do makes you uncomfortable in any way.”

Alec reached down to gently pull Magnus up his body so that Magnus was braced above him, looking down at him inquisitvely. The care that Magnus had shown so far was exactly what Alec needed, he was nervous about being so intimate with another person, but he was also excited and _very_ aroused. Alec propped himself on his elbows and kissed Magnus deeply, trying to convey through the kiss how much he appreciated everything Magnus had done so far.

Alec broke the kiss and looked at Magnus, “I promise I’ll let you know, but trust me when I say I want this, I want this so badly Magnus.”

Magnus grinned, “Well then, I don’t want to keep you waiting any longer.” He kissed Alec once more and then made his way back down Alec’s body, his cock hard against Alec’s own for just a moment. Feeling Magnus’ arousal only stoked the fire burning in Alec’s belly, he loved knowing that Magnus was just as turned on as he was.

Magnus swirled his tongue on the tip of Alec’s cock before sinking his mouth down, the pleasure making Alec’s mind hazy. Alec dropped back onto the bed from where he’d been holding himself up, his eyes closing and his hands going to tangle themselves in Magnus’ dark hair.

“Oh fuck,” Alec moaned. Magnus had apparently opened the bottle of lube and was running a slick finger over Alec’s entrance as he licked a strip up the side of Alec’s cock. Alec ground his hips down at the sensation, willing Magnus to give him more.

Magnus pressed tentatively at Alec’s rim, he looked up Alec’s body, “Relax Alexander.”

Alec took a deep breath as Magnus’ finger slid inside him, reminding himself to relax around the digit. Magnus moved his finger, starting out slowly to allow Alec to adjust to the sensation.

Alec had admitted to Magnus that he wanted Magnus to fuck him after Magnus had asked if he knew if he was a top or bottom. He’d fucked himself with his fingers and a dildo plenty of times over the years, and knew he loved when his ass felt full; so, he’d expected that what he and Magnus did tonight to be about the same as what he’d done alone. He was wrong.

Magnus had taken Alec’s cock back in his mouth as he worked his finger in and out of Alec. “Holy fucking fuck,” he gasped. The pleasure was unimaginable. Fingering himself had always felt good but Magnus was able to press into him so much better. Alec pressed down on Magnus’ finger, “More Magnus, please,” he pleaded.

“Whatever you want gorgeous,” Magnus said, popping his mouth off Alec’s cock to reach for the bottle of lube. He applied some more to his fingers and circled Alec’s rim before slowly pressing two fingers into Alec.

Alec tensed for a moment and took a deep breath, relaxing as he let the breath out. When Magnus felt Alec relax around him he pressed his fingers in deeper, drawing them out torturously slow before pushing them back in. “That feels so fucking good Magnus.”

“Jesus christ, Alexander you look so fucking hot right now.” Alec pulled his hand away from his face to look at Magnus. Magnus was looking at Alec, his eyes burning with lust and his body glistening with a light sheen of sweat. He brought his mouth back down to Alec’s cock, moving his head in time with the movements of his hand.

Alec’s back arched up when Magnus ran his other hand up his torso to rub circles around Alec’s nipples. His body was on fire with want. He clenched down on Magnus’ fingers and ground his hips down to meet Magnus’ hand. Magnus hummed approvingly around Alec’s cock and put an exploratory third finger at Alec’s entrance, he hesitated, waiting for Alec’s reaction, “Yes, fuck, yes.”

This time Alec didn’t tense as Magnus added another finger, the feeling of fullness was intoxicating. Magnus pulled off Alec’s cock and pressed burning kisses on Alec’s hips and stomach, his hand setting a languorous rhythm and he thrust his fingers in and out of Alec.

Alec saw stars when Magnus crooked his fingers to start running them over his prostate, the pleasure jolting through him. Alec’s felt the pre-come from his cock dribble onto his stomach, but he couldn’t be bothered, the feeling of Magnus’ fingers inside of him was all he was focused on.

“Alexander.” Alec forced his foggy mind to focus on what Magnus was saying, “Alexander,” Magnus said again. “Do you want me to use the dildo on you tonight?”

Alec’s eyes widened, “Oh, I forgot about that, uh, yeah. If you don’t mind.”

Magnus slowly removed his fingers from Alec, he wiped them on a pair of boxers hanging off the bed post, “Alexander, I’ve been imaging fucking you with it since it came in this week. I’ve been picturing you splayed out in front of me, your ass filled with it as you come hard around it.”

Alec stared at the man in front of him, his face heating up at the words and the intensity of Magnus’ gaze. “Holy fuck Magnus, could you get any sexier?”

Magnus shrugged his shoulders, “Probably, but we can explore that another time, right now I’m going to go wash this,” he gestured at the dildo, “and then I’m going to come back in here and fuck you.”

Alec stared after Magnus, he didn’t realize he could get any more aroused, but Magnus’ words sparked something within him he didn’t know was there.

After a few minutes Magnus came back in, the blue dildo unpackaged and now clean in his hand. He sunk back down onto the mattress and ran a hand down Alec’s chest to his still dripping cock. Magnus swept a finger through the pre-come and sucked it off with an appreciative hum. Alec stared in disbelief at the man in front of him.

“Alexander, would you mind putting your legs up? I think that’ll give you the most pleasure,” he thought for a beat, “and me the best view.”

Alec nodded, “Uh, yeah, sure.” He watched as Magnus put a generous amount of lube on the dildo, sliding his hand up and down it expertly. Alec lifted his legs up, feeling suddenly nervous and exposed.

As if sensing Alec’s hesitation Magnus looked up, he took in Alec; cock hard, his legs spread out, and a flush creeping up his chest. “You, Alexander Lightwood, are so fucking beautiful.”

The flush continued up Alec’s chest but the nerves he’d been feeling dissipated. He felt truly erotic for the first time in his life (funny, he thought wildly, that an erotica author would just now feel erotic).

Alec dropped his head back onto the mattress as Magnus took his lubed hand and spread more of the slick substance on Alec’s entrance. The fleeting sensation gone before he had time to register how good it felt.

“Are you ready Alexander?” Magnus was rubbing the blue dildo in circles around Alec’s rim.

“Fuck yes,” Alec’s hips jerked as the toy ran over his hole again.

Magnus pressed the tip of the dildo against Alec’s entrance and Alec took a breath in to relax. It was thicker than Magnus’ three fingers had been, but Alec had a similarly sized dildo in his bedside table, so he wasn’t nervous about its size.

Magnus groaned with him as the dildo slid inside Alec, he seemed just as affected by this as Alec. Alec spared a glance and saw that Magnus was propped on one elbow, his free hand maneuvering the dildo. Magnus’ hips were pressed down the bed, he was rocking against the mattress, obviously trying to get some friction against his own hard cock.

Magnus started to slowly fuck Alec with the dildo, being sure that it’s curved side was facing up towards Alec’s prostate, gliding against it teasingly as he worked the dildo in and out of Alec.

It didn’t take long for Alec to get close to the edge again, Magnus had increased his pace and was rutting into the mattress in earnest now. Alec reached down and started jerking himself off, he knew he was close to coming. Magnus was relentless as he fucked the dildo into Alec, never missing that sensitive bundle of nerves.

“Fuck, Magnus, I’m gonna come,” Alec rasped out. His hand was moving furiously up and down his cock as he chased the pleasure he knew was just out of reach.

“Oh, fuck, yes,” Magnus breathed, his hips jerking as he focused on maintaining the dildo’s pace.

Alec’s body tensed as he was overcome with waves of pleasure. He’d had a prostate orgasm before, but this was so much better than the ones he’d managed to give himself. “Holy fuck, fuck, yes, yes, oh my fucking god, yes.” Alec came with a shout as he shot ropes of come across his stomach and chest.

Magnus was shuddering as he fucked Alec through his orgasm, crying out, “Fuck, Alexander,” as he came into the bed’s comforter.

They lay still, both breathing heavily. Alec could hear his blood pounding in his ears as his heartrate slowed back down. “Fuck, Magnus, that was incredible, you’re incredible, holy shit.”

Magnus chuckled weakly, “Speak for yourself, I haven’t come like that since I was a teenager. Relax,” he said putting his hand back on the dildo.

Alec didn’t think he could be any more relaxed, but he still sucked in a breath at the empty feeling when Magnus pulled the dildo out and tossed it on the floor.

Magnus stood up, he wobbled on his legs for a second and then made to pull the soiled comforter off the bed, “I’m sorry about your comforter Alexander, I can get it dry cleaned if you want?”

Alec waved his hand dismissively from where he lay on the bed, “No big deal, I’ll just toss the duvet in the wash, it’ll be fine.”

Magnus dropped the comforter and smiled at him, “Whatever you say handsome.”

He left the room for a few minutes before coming back into the bedroom holding out a washcloth damp with warm water. Alec took it from him gratefully and cleaned himself up. “You’re so fucking amazing,” he said wiping the last of the come off his chest.

Alec tossed the washcloth Magnus had given him towards the corner of his room where the hamper was. Magnus watched with a raised eyebrow but crawled up the bed to lay beside Alec when Alec patted the empty space next to him. They lay quietly together for a few moments; Magnus’ body was warm against Alec’s. Magnus’ had put his head on Alec’s chest and his arm across Alec’s stomach, breathing slowly as he nestled in closer to him. Alec traced shapes on the smooth skin of Magnus’ back and felt his eyelids start to grow heavy.

“You should stay the night Magnus,” he mumbled, exhaustion finally hitting him, “No use going all the way back to your place tonight.”

Magnus’ breathing hitched, “Um, yeah, okay. Though I have to warn you I’m an intense sleep snuggler.”

“I like that,” Alec breathed, he pulled Magnus closer against him and his breathing deepening.

***

Magnus listened to the sound of Alec’s heartbeat slow as he fell asleep, he couldn’t blame the man for being exhausted, his orgasm had been intense. He smiled to himself, proud at the part he’d played in that. He pulled the sheet up over the both of them and tried to relax.

Magnus hadn’t slept, like actually slept, with anyone since Camille. Alec’s warm body and gentle breathing reminded him how much he missed intimacy like this. He could get used to this, to having a nice dinner at home and then sleeping next to Alec.

The last thought Magnus had before falling into a peaceful sleep, tucked closely beside Alec, was how much he liked Alec, and how quickly he was falling for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the weeks its been since the last update, I feel like I've been spending all of my time harvesting veggies the last few weeks so when I get home I'm exhausted and ready for bed. Farming ain't always easy, haha. But, thank you so so much for your patience! I hope this chapter was worth the wait <3
> 
> As always, any comments, critiques, kudos, really any kind of lovins are much appreciated...I love knowing that folks are enjoying my story xx


	10. The Overalls with No Shirt and Lots of Glitter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Are you sure this isn’t too much?” Alec looked at his reflection and took in the outfit Clary and Izzy had managed to convince him to try on. “It seems like too much.”
> 
> “You already vetoed the rainbow romper and the crop top,” Izzy said. “Both amazing choices I might add.” Izzy crossed her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes at him in the mirror.

Magnus turned up the music already blaring through his apartment as he shimmied his shoulders and swirled his hips to the songs his Spotify kept shuffling through on his Pride playlist. It felt like the air around him was buzzing with energy and he smiled broadly at his reflection in the mirror.

He was wearing a pair of retro overalls he’d found in a thrift shop years ago. They were white with green and blue peace signs covering them and he’d cuffed them to his calves and paired them with silver-glitter High-Top Converse. He’d decided to forgo a shirt under the overalls and had his brown chest covered in biodegradable body glitter, it was only Pride once a year after all! Magnus had dyed the front of his hair with pink, purple, and blue, the colors of the bisexual flag, and styled his hair in a lavish coif. His fingernails matched his hair, and he’d done his makeup with deep purples to make the gold in his eyes pop. He looked pretty damn good if he did say so himself.

Chairman Meow jumped down from where he’d been watching Magnus on the bathroom vanity and stretched his way over to a patch of sunlight in the bedroom. Magnus grinned giddily at the cat before loudly singing along to the latest song that was blasting in the apartment, Janelle Monae’s “Screwed.”

_Let's get screwed / I don't care / You fucked the world up now / We'll fuck it all back down / Let's get, let's get screwed_

Magnus practically shouted the last line before the music suddenly stopped and his phone started to go off. He’d set an alarm to make sure he didn’t leave too late to get to the store and apparently it was time for him to go.

Magnus sighed and looked at his cat who was still lounging in the rays of sunshine, “What do you think Chairman, you think there’ll be any screwing happening later?” The gray and white cat just blinked and rolled over, his legs sticking up as he got comfortable on his back. “That was truly useful insight Chairman Meow,” Magnus said drily. He checked his reflection one more time, adding just a little bit more glitter to his cheekbones, and left his apartment, locking the door behind him.

The sound of music and thousands of people hit Magnus’ ears soon as he stepped out onto W 12th Street. He didn’t live that far from the parade route, so his street was blocked off to cars for the day and the quiet street was filling up quickly with people selling water bottles and novelty t-shirts. Magnus knew some of his neighbors hated Pride because it was “inconvenient.” Magnus and an older white woman in his building had nearly gotten into a shouting match when he first moved in. She’d been complaining that “the gays just want an excuse to party half naked.” Magnus had furiously pointed out that Pride happened to commemorate the Stonewall Riots in 1969 and that LGBT+ people in the United States still didn’t have equal rights everywhere. And while Magnus could admit that Pride had become incredibly corporate in recent years he still believed it was important for LGBT+ people to be able to celebrate their sexuality, with as much or as little clothing as they desired.

Magnus took in a group of men standing beside a banner for NYC Pups and Handlers; a few of the men were wearing leather pants and hats with others in leather jockstraps, puppy masks over their face. While Magnus wasn’t into Pup Play he didn’t believe in kink shaming, he smiled over at one large man who was holding onto the leash of a smaller man. He was pretty sure he recognized the man as a frequent customer of his store’s BDSM section.

In no time at all Magnus got to the store, even though it wasn’t even ten o’clock in the morning the sidewalks in front of the store were packed and he had to struggle his way between people to get to the building. Tessa met him at the door and opened it up.

“I think it’s going to be even busier than last year!” she said excitedly as he came in.

Magnus looked around at the bustling employees preparing for the day ahead of them. “You may be right; do you think we have enough people on for the day? Are you sure you’ll be okay when I leave later? I’m sure Alexander will understand if I need to stay –”

Tessa cut Magnus off and turned the sign to open in the door, “You are going to leave with Alec when he gets here. You are going to enjoy the day with your boyfriend. You are going to get laid later and cover that gorgeous man in glitter. And you are not going to think about this store.”

Magnus stared at Tessa as she greeted a group of three women who walked in as soon as Tessa turned the sign to “Open.” One of the women looked familiar, a tall, pale woman with jet black hair that fell down her back, but Magnus couldn’t quite place her. They made brief eye contact, so Magnus smiled, the woman stared back at him with a sour expression. Weird. Magnus brushed thoughts of the woman aside and faced Tessa.

“Oh my god, Tessa, why do you all keep saying boyfriend? We aren’t ‘official’ yet.” Magnus said rolling his eyes as he put air-quotes around the word.

Tessa quirked an eyebrow up, “Seriously? You won’t shut up about him and he comes to visit you at the store, like, twice a week. He looks at you with the biggest puppy eyes when you aren’t looking Magnus, it’s so adorable I want to throw up.”

“Um, rude,” Magnus said dramatically. “And we haven’t had sex yet, so don’t spread that around.” Magnus tried to say it casually, but he heard Tessa inhale sharply.

“What?” Magnus turned away from the display he was fidgeting with to see Tessa staring at him. “Magnus, you haven’t gotten laid in fucking forever, how have you two not had sex yet?” Tessa’s voice was too loud and carried to the corner where the group of women were pulling edible underwear down from a shelf. The tall woman who’d started at Magnus earlier glanced over at them, a strange look on her face.

“Keep your voice down,” Magnus chided.

“Excuse me but one of my best friends just dropped a huge bombshell on me! I thought for sure you two were having all kinds of kinky sex, I’ve read a few of Alec’s books, he’s kinda shameless about sex.” Tessa lowered her voice slightly but was still looking at Magnus like he was about to start hula-hooping naked.

Magnus gave a big sigh, “He does seem so depraved, doesn’t he?”

Tessa raised an eyebrow and nodded, “Uh yeah, I’ve asked Will and Jem to act out some of scenes from _Ransoms Doubt_.”

“The blindfold and handcuffs with the wax?” Magnus asked, momentarily distracted.

Tessa turned red, she obviously hadn’t meant to say that. “Oh, um, yeah? Fuck. Don’t tell them I said anything.”

Magnus smiled wickedly and looked over to where Will and Jem were talking to a customer, he saw Will put his hand in Jem’s back pocket before looking over at Tessa and winking devilishly. “Tessa you lucky dog! I love it!”

“Shut up,” she said, still pink faced. “And stop changing the subject, why aren’t you guys fucking? I thought for sure there was a connection between you guys.”

Magnus groaned, “So much connection yes, but, and you can’t tell anyone, literally no one I said this,” he held out his pinky for Tessa to take it for a pink promise. She looked a little annoyed but took his pinky with hers for a brief squeeze. “So, Alec is actually a virgin, I mean, he’s done some things, but Tessa, he’s never had sex with anyone before.”

Tessa opened her mouth and closed it without saying anything. “Huh,” she finally said.

Magnus looked behind Tessa at the dark-haired woman, she had her head cocked towards them, “Can I help you find anything?” he asked with a smile.

The woman’s mouth quirked with a sneer, “No thanks, I’ve got everything I need.” She turned to the women she’d come in with and dragged them out of the store. So, fucking weird, Magnus thought again.

“Okay, so let me get this straight.” Tessa said when Magnus faced her again. “Alec’s never had sex with a man before, what about a woman? Has he ever dated anyone? Is he super religious or something and waiting until marriage? And how the fuck does he write those scenes if he’s never done any of that before?”

“He’s never had sex with anyone. He’s dated a little bit, but I get the sense he has a hard time putting himself out there. He’s definitely not religious, though his cat’s name is Church,” Magnus paused, “but no, he’s not waiting for marriage or anything.”

“And the writing?” Tessa pressed.

Magnus chuckled, “I asked the same thing, he said he has an active imagination and had seen his fair share of porn.”

Tessa nodded, “Fair enough. So, does it mean sex is off the table or is it something that’ll happen eventually?”

“It’s something he wants, that we want,” he added. “I just don’t want to pressure him into doing anything he isn’t ready to do yet, so we’re taking it slow. Slower than I ever have in the past to be honest, but I’m trying to follow his lead about when he wants it to happen.”

“Cat was right, you really like him, don’t you?” Tessa asked.

Magnus took in Tessa’s thoughtful expression, recognizing that she was asking him a serious question. “I dunno, maybe?” She raised her eyebrow at him, “Okay, fine, yes, I do, I like him…a lot.” Magnus paused and thought for a moment, “I think he feels the same way but sometimes it’s hard to tell.”

“C’mon, Magnus stop, that boy looks at you like you hung the moon! He obviously likes you just as much.” Tessa turned away from Magnus to greet a group of people chatting loudly about their Pride plans.

Magnus felt his cheeks heat up slightly at Tessa’s words, he knew she wouldn’t say something like that unless she meant it. Tessa started to guide the group over to the store’s wall of dildos, as she passed by Magnus she whispered, “He fucking likes you, stop trying to overthink this.”

Magnus laughed and swatted in Tessa’s direction. He took a deep breath, she was right, overthinking this wouldn’t do him any good. He put it out of his mind and walked to greet the next customer.

***

“Are you sure this isn’t too much?” Alec looked at his reflection and took in the outfit Clary and Izzy had managed to convince him to try on. “It seems like too much.”

“You already vetoed the rainbow romper and the crop top,” Izzy said. “Both amazing choices I might add.” Izzy crossed her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes at him in the mirror.

Alec could see Izzy’s annoyance, but it didn’t stop him from pulling self-consciously at the shirt she’d all but forced him into. Alec picked up his nearly finished glass of orange juice and champagne, he sighed and tossed back the remainder of the mimosa. “It’s just so,” Alec searched for a word that wouldn’t offend Izzy, “uh, bright?”

Izzy groaned, her exasperation with Alec written all over her face, “It’s the tamest thing any of us are wearing!”

Alec looked at Izzy, she was seated on his bed in a vertical striped rainbow crop tank top. She’d paired the shirt with high-waisted jean shorts and strappy sandals, her long black hair was out of the bun she generally wore it in for work and was flowing loosely down her back. She had a pair of bright pink heart-shaped sunglasses perched on her head that Alec knew she would actually wear at some point during the day.

Clary returned to Alec’s bedroom, she was wearing loose fitting denim overall shorts with a white t-shirt that read “Eat Pussy, It’s Organic” on the front. With the overalls on you could only see the words “Eat Pussy,” a fact that made Clary blush terribly when she realized and delighted Izzy to no end.

Clary picked Church up from the floor, “Iz, I think we forgot the rainbow suspenders at your place, but look,” she held the fluffy cat up for Alec and Izzy to see, “I found the bowtie we got for Church!”

Church stared grumpily at them, a rainbow bowtie on a collar visible under his chin. “Oh my god! What a dapper boy!” Izzy exclaimed as she walked over to Clary and Church. “And what a sexy woman,” she said more quietly putting her hand around Clary’s waist to pull her close before kissing her softly.

“My eyes!” Alec cried, throwing his arm dramatically over his eyes. He heard Izzy scoff and the thud of Church jumping out of Clary’s arms. He pulled his arm away slightly to see Izzy and Clary standing a respectable distance apart, Clary’s cheeks were pink, and she wasn’t meeting Alec’s eye.

“Sometimes, you seem like such a prude Alec, but then I remember that you write ‘sexy sex stories,’” Izzy made air quotes around the words, “and I realize you’re not a prude, just a drama queen.”

Alec opened his mouth to say something back about how _she_ was in fact the drama queen when his phone started vibrating on his dresser. Izzy looked at the screen before Alec had the chance to and snatched it up, putting it on speaker before answering, “Hello, Alexander Lightwood’s phone, author of sexy sex stories including, but not limited to, _All Tied Up_ , _Ransom’s Doubt_ …” she was cut short when Alec wrestled his phone out of her hands.

“Fuck, seriously Izzy, uh, hello?” Alec asked tentatively, Jace’s laughter came through the phone speaker.

“Sexy sex stories?” Jace choked out, “oh man, I’m actually crying right now.”

Alec looked over at Izzy who was bent over laughing, “Shut up Jace, sexy sex stories happen to be how I make money.” Alec paused, “I mean gay romance novels!”

Clary let out a peel of laughter, “We need to update your website’s bio Alec!”

Alec rolled his eyes, “As much as I love it when my siblings and Clary make a mockery of my work I really need to find an outfit to wear.”

“That’s why I’m calling,” Jace said, he was still chuckling. “Izzy’s been sending me pictures of everything you’ve tried on.”

Alec spun on his heel and glared at Izzy, “You’ve been doing what?!”

Izzy looked pointedly at her shortly clipped nails, as if examining the bright polish for chips. Clary nudged Izzy with her elbow and muttered, “He’s not going to stop staring at you until you acknowledge him Iz.”

Izzy took a deep, theatrical sigh and looked at Alec, “You know how jealous Jace gets when we have fashion parties without him.” Alec continued to stare at his sister, he didn’t buy her excuse. Izzy tossed her hair over her shoulder, “And maybe he’s the one that picked out the romper and I promised him pictures.”

Alec closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, “Jace,” he started, “the romper? Seriously? That thing rode all the way up my junk.”

Jace choked out a laugh over the phone and Izzy gagged loudly.

“I saw too much of your balls in that romper and I can never un-see it,” Jace wheezed out between laughs. “I’m probably scarred for life.”

“At least you didn’t have to see it in person!” Clary called into the phone. She and Izzy were both wiping tears from their eyes, huge grins on their faces.

“I’m glad everyone thinks my potential sterility from junk-related-trauma is so fucking funny,” Alec smiled, he had to, he sounded ridiculous.

“Awww, Alec, we just think your overreaction to said junk-related-trauma is funny,” Clary said sweetly. “Also, can we stop talking about your junk, it’s ruining my lady-loving buzz.”

“I can fix that,” Izzy quirked an eyebrow at Clary.

“Nope, nope, nope. I’ve already seen more than I ever needed to see of my baby sister’s love life today. Jace, why are you actually calling? Aren’t you somewhere out west for a nerdy editor conference?”

“If you consider Cleveland ‘out west’ then yes. Though I’d personally consider it middle America,” Jace said thoughtfully.

Alec sighed, exasperated by his brother dodging his question, “Seriously Jace, I know you’re not calling to discuss what constitutes middle America right now.”

“Fine, fine, I was just calling to say two things, maybe three. One, is that you should definitely wear the last outfit Iz sent me a picture of; it looks the most like you, I mean it’s even missing buttons. Two, I hope you and Magnus end up actual boyfriends by the end of the night, if you don’t do it I swear I’m going to embarrass you so hard in front of Magnus the next time I see him. And three,” Jace took a deep breath as if to prepare to say something profound, “don’t forget to wrap it before you tap it.”

“Jesus christ Jace!” Alec exclaimed feeling his cheeks heat up. Izzy and Clary both sounded like they were trying to hold back their laughter as they watched Alec gape comically at the phone in his hand. “You, you don’t, I don’t –”

“Or make sure he wraps it!” Jace interrupted. “I don’t want to assume anything about your sex roles.”

“I’m hanging up now,” Alec said, “I’m hanging up and pretending you never said any of those words to me. Have fun in Cleveland, or don’t, just don’t ever talk about wrapping it again.”

“Love you t–” Jace’s voice was cut-off when Alec pressed the end button and tossed his phone on the bed.

Alec looked over at Izzy who was still chuckling to herself, “I can’t believe you sent him a picture of me in the romper, you know he’s going to print that out and have it made into coasters or something right?”

“Ohmygod, do you think so? We’ll have to give some to Magnus!” Izzy seemed delighted at the idea.

“What? No!” Alec looked at Clary, she was smiling broadly as she watched their conversation, “Clary, please tell me you weren’t in on this, you were my friend before her,” he pointed at Izzy, “girlfriend.”

“Oh, I, um, maybe?” Clary wouldn’t meet Alec’s eyes. “I, uh, knew Jace was going to be involved in today somehow, that’s all.”

“Alright, Alec, don’t blame Clary, this was all me and Jace’s doing.” Izzy finished her drink and looked down at her phone, “Oh shit, Alec, we need to get going, didn’t you tell Magnus you’d meet him around one? It’s almost quarter-to-one now.”

“Oh fuck, seriously? I haven’t figured out what I’m going to wear!” Alec started pacing, picking up a pair of white chucks and shuffling things around on his dresser looking for his phone. “Where’s my phone?” he muttered to himself.

“It’s where you threw it on the bed,” Clary said, holding out the phone to Alec, “why don’t you just wear what you have on? I think it’s perfect!”

“And Jace liked this one too, it has all of our approval!” Izzy said excitedly, she picked up everyone’s empty drink glasses and walked them out of the bedroom. “Plus, there’s no time for you to change now!”

Alec looked in the mirror again, it wasn’t the worst outfit he’d tried on today, and Jace was right, out of everything he tried on it was the only one he felt even a little bit comfortable in. 

“Ugh, fine, it’ll have to do,” Alec left his bedroom and walked into the kitchen. “Church, if I’m lucky I won’t be coming home tonight so you can’t eat all this food in one sitting, pace yourself okay?”

Church looked up from where he’d sat beside his bowl, patiently waiting for Alec to pour food into it. 

“He’s going to eat it all as soon as we leave,” Izzy said as she came into the kitchen. “Also, did I just hear you tell the cat that you’re planning on getting lucky tonight?” Izzy waggled her eyebrows at Alec.

“Eavesdropping is rude Isabelle Lightwood,” Alec chided, he patted Church on the head before putting the cat food away. 

Izzy rolled her eyes, “Whatever you say _Alexander_.”

Alec ignored his sister and pulled his phone out of his pocket, sending a quick text to Magnus to let him know they were running late. He looked up from his phone when he was done and loudly said, “Alrighty queers, let’s get this show on the road!”

Clary laughed and walked over to the door to his apartment, Izzy following close behind, “Could you sound more like a dad right now?” she asked.

“He could tell us a dad joke!” Clary chimed in, “Then he’d sound just like Luke.”

Alec stopped the music that had been playing all morning and turned out the lights, from where he stood at the door he could see Church eating ravenously. The cat was definitely going to eat all of the food well before Alec got home. He smiled to himself as he locked the door behind him. He couldn’t wait to see Magnus.

***

“Do we have anymore of the Njoy Plugs? We sold out of all of the sizes out front,” Tessa said as she flew into the back room where Magnus was looking for more rechargeable Magic Wands.

Magnus looked up, “We sold out of the Njoy Plugs? Are you serious? They’re generally a pretty slow mover.”

“One of the customers said Autostraddle just put out an article on queer sex toys and the Njoy Pure Plugs were listed as one of the best butt plugs,” Tessa shrugged and came up beside Magnus. “I guess people are finally realizing stainless steel is pretty fucking great.”

“Well shit, that’s amazing!” Magnus couldn’t remember a busier day in the store. People had been filling the store steadily since they opened. “I’m pretty sure we have two more boxes of the medium and large plugs in the corner. Do you know where more Magic Wands could be? I know we ordered a bunch earlier this month.”

“Oh yeah, I had Jem bring more out front like fifteen minutes ago, we should be all stocked up now. I think we need more Sliquid lube too if you want to grab some?” Tessa picked up two boxes of Njoy Pure Plugs and started walking back to the front of the store, “Wait, isn’t Alec supposed to be here by now?”

Magnus sighed, “He’s running late, he said something about trying to pick a good outfit and then told me his siblings were evil incarnate.” Magnus shrugged, “He should be here soon though, are you sure you’ll be okay handling the store?”

“Magnus I’m not going to tell you again, it’s going to be fine. This isn’t my first Pride at the store, you need to go and enjoy the day with your boyfriend.” Tessa’s eyes twinkled when she said boyfriend.

“He’s not –” Magnus started.

Tessa held up her hand, “Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. I need to get back out front, I had a customer waiting to see if we had any more of these.”

Magnus watched Tessa go and then looked around for more Sliquid lube, Tessa hadn’t specified what kind of lube so he grabbed a few bottles of each.

The store was abuzz with people when Magnus walked back out, when he strained his ears he could hear the Pride playlist he’d found on Spotify playing above the din. He sang a few lines of the beginning of “Vogue” as he shimmied over to the lube display, a large sign above it read, “Let’s Break Out the Special Lube Tonight.”

Magnus put the new bottles of lube out and checked to see if any other brands needed to be replenished too. Magnus rocked his hips back and forth in time to the song, feeling ready to start vogueing in front of the lube display. He froze when he felt a hand on the small of his back.

_Come on, vogue / Let your body move to the music / Hey, hey, hey / Come on, vogue / Let your body go with the flow / You know you can do it_

A familiar deep voice sang along to the song, Magnus grinned and spun around, coming face-to-face with Alec. Alec had a huge smile on his face, his blue eyes crinkling at the edges as he took in Magnus.

Magnus pulled Alec into a tight hug, his body pressing against Alec, “I don’t know what I’d have done if it wasn’t you,” he chuckled. He rubbed his jaw along Alec’s before kissing Alec lightly on the mouth.

“I think you’d probably have decked me in the jaw,” Alec laughed, “I have no doubts in my mind that you can throw a mean punch.” Alec took a step back and looked Magnus up and down, “Oh wow, these, these are really something.”

Magnus quirked an eyebrow and looked down at his overalls, “Something good?”

“Something good, something really good, I especially like this,” Alec ran his finger from Magnus’ clavicle down his bare chest. “Overalls with no shirt and lots of glitter is a very good look on you Magnus Bane.”

Magnus shivered at the touch and looked in Alec’s eyes, sure he could see raw lust in the deep blue color. “Be careful what you say Alexander Lightwood, this glitter is going to get everywhere soon enough.”

Alec laughed, “I can handle a little glitter, you know what they say about being gay and glitter right?”

“The both don’t go away!” Magnus exclaimed. Alec nodded as he chuckled. He pulled self-consciously at the collar of his shirt and Magnus suddenly realized what Alec was wearing. “Holy fuck Alexander, that outfit should be illegal.”

Alec was wearing short navy shorts that showed off his well-muscled thighs and calves, tan from all the runs he went on with his brother, they fit snuggly on his hips and Magnus had half a mind to spin Alec around and check out his ass. But before he could do that he realized that Alec wasn’t wearing a shirt, or, he was, but the yellow floral print collared Cuban shirt was open. Alec’s entire chest was exposed, the dark hair that Magnus had run his hands through not too many nights ago, the abs Magnus longed to trace his tongue down, the nipples Magnus knew were sensitive to his touch.

Magnus felt his heartrate quicken and he had to close his eyes briefly to concentrate on not getting a full-on erection in the store he owned. When he opened his eyes, Alec was looking down bashfully as he tried to do up the buttons on his shirt.

“Alexander, what do you think you’re doing?” Magnus asked, his voice gravelly with desire.

“It’s too much isn’t it? I told Izzy I needed to have it buttoned but she insisted that unbuttoned was the way to go, and then she took half the fucking buttons off!” Alec stopped trying to button the shirt. Magnus looked at the buttons and saw that Izzy had only left the very top button on the shirt. God bless that woman, he thought to himself.

Magnus took Alec’s chin gently in his hand and tilted it up to look into his eyes, “Alexander,” he said in a low voice for only Alec to hear, “you look so fucking sexy. If I didn’t own this store and have all these customers reviewing us badly to worry about, I swear I’d be dropping to my knees and taking your cock in my mouth. Fuck. You need to let Izzy take all the buttons off your clothes.” Magnus slid his hand from Alec’s chin down his chest, tracing shapes as he went.

Alec’s breath caught in his chest, “Oh, uh, fuck, um we can do that somewhere else right?”

Magnus pulled back from Alec, “Absolutely.” Alec smiled at the word before jumping away from Magnus, a horrified look on his face.

“Excuse me, are y’all done with the foreplay yet?” a man’s voice with a southern accent asked. “Some of us need lube.”

Magnus turned to see a shirtless petite man in tiny jean shorts with cowboy boots and a large cowboy hat, he’d accessorized with an orange handkerchief tied around his neck and a dangling rainbow bellybutton ring. Magnus smiled apologetically, “I’m so sorry! Is there anything I can help you find?” Magnus gestured at his nametag on the front of his overalls, “And I work here, I’m not a random person trying to find out your taste in lube.”

The man grinned, “Actually yes, I had a few questions about silicone and water-based lubes.”

“Of course!” Magnus said brightly, he loved talking to customers about the different lubes and what kinds were safe to use with condoms and different toys. Magnus glanced at Alec, “Can I come meet you outside in a bit?”

Alec looked relieved to be dismissed from the conversation. “Yeah that sounds great, Izzy and Clary are out watching the parade, let me know if you can’t find us.” Alec hesitated for a minute and then leaned in to give Magnus a quick peck on the cheek before turning around and rushing out of the store.

“Oh, he’s a cute one,” the cowboy said with a wink, “how long have you and your boyfriend been together?”

“Uh, he’s not my boyfriend,” Magnus said, “well, not yet at least.”

“Honey, you’d better scoop that boy up quick before someone else does,” the man turned back to the display in front of them, “So I’m in town visiting some friends and we were talking about fisting…”

\--

Magnus couldn’t believe how long it’d taken to help the customer, he’d ended up having Will finish the sale after he realized he’d been inside for nearly thirty minutes. “Tessa, I’m heading out,” Magnus said rushing into his office to deposit his nametag and grab his wallet, keys, and sunglasses. He thought a moment and then grabbed a small jar of glitter from his desk drawer, you never knew when you’d need more glitter.

Tessa poked her head in the office, “Good! Get out there and go find Alec, I saw you eye fucking him earlier, please don’t get arrested for indecent exposure.”

“Hush!” Magnus said, pulling Tessa in for a quick hug, “And thank you, this is the first Pride that I haven’t worked the whole day in the store. I don’t think I could let anyone else run this place besides you.”

“Drama queen.” Tessa rolled her eyes and patted Magnus’ cheek, “Have fun, and I’ll see you on Tuesday!” Magnus waved and headed out of the store, eyes searching for Alec’s dark hair and his yellow shirt.

“Oh my god, Magnus those overalls are amazing!” Magnus turned to see Izzy rushing towards him on the sidewalk. Clary and Alec followed behind, apologizing to the people Izzy had barreled through.

Izzy reached Magnus and pulled him into a tight hug. “Hello to you too,” Magnus said, returning the embrace. “And don’t you look gorgeous, this whole outfit is fantastic.”

“Isn’t it?! It took me ages to find this top.” Izzy was stopped short when Clary and Alec finally got to them.

Magnus looked down at Clary, the petite redhead was wearing baggy denim overall shorts with a white shirt underneath that just said, “Eat Pussy.” He started laughing as he gave Clary a quick hug. “Clary that shirt is perfect!”

Clary turned pink, “I didn’t think through the overalls with it very well, the organic part is all covered up.”

“I don’t know what organic has to do with it, but I love the whole outfit.” Magnus caught Alec’s eye and winked. Alec flushed slightly, the blush creeping up his chest. Magnus was delighted that Alec’s lack of buttons allowed him to see Alec’s blush in action.

Magnus looked at Clary and Izzy, trying not to stare too hard at Alec’s chest. “So, I’m noticing that neither of you are wearing any glitter. Can we change that?” Magnus pulled the small glitter container from his pocket.

“Oooh, yes, I love glitter!” Izzy squealed. “Put it everywhere!” She put herself right in front of Magnus, holing her arms out for him to start.

“Maybe not everywhere,” Clary chimed in, “we’re going to be finding it for weeks.”

Magnus laughed, “That’s the beauty of glitter!” He dipped his finger in the glitter and put some on Izzy’s cheeks and her shoulders. He turned to Clary, “Your turn babe.”

“Please, not too much, maybe just like a little above my eyes?” Clary tensed when Magnus started to put the glitter on her.

“Don’t worry, I’m only doing a little bit,” Magnus said as he smoothed the glitter on Clary. She relaxed and pulled away when he was done with a smile.

“Selfie!” Izzy exclaimed. She drew Clary into her, putting the smaller woman in front of her to take the photo. They really were cute together.

Magnus turned to Alec, “What about you Alexander, can I put some glitter on you too?”

Alec smiled, “Why not, I can wear glitter once a year I guess.”

Magnus moved in and began putting glitter on the other man, he started with some on Alec’s cheekbones, the golden glitter catching the light and emphasizing his features. “Can I do a little more?” Magnus asked, he wasn’t sure how much glitter Alec would let him do.

Alec nodded, “As much as you want.”

Magnus grinned, “Watch what you say darling.” He leaned in and kissed Alec’s cheek, right below the glitter. He stepped back and started putting glitter on Alec’s collar bones, he looked at Alec’s firm chest and decided that it wouldn’t hurt to have a little bit of glitter in the dark hairs that started at his pecs and worked their way down. Careful not to use too much Magnus brushed glitter down Alec’s chest, ending just above his shorts.

Alec looked down at the glitter on his torso, “You know this is going to get all over you too right?”

“Oh? And how on earth could that happen?” Magnus asked, his voice dropping to a murmur just for Alec to hear.

Alec turned red, “Um, uh, you know, stuff and things.”

“Mhm, stuff and things?” Magnus leaned in and put his lips to Alec’s ear, “I can’t wait to find out what you have in mind Alexander.”

Alec shuddered and closed his eyes, “Fuck.”

Magnus chuckled and pulled away. “So, what have you three been up to?”

Clary looked up from Izzy’s phone, they’d been deep in conversation about the best selfie to post on Instagram. “Izzy and I are just killing time, we’re meeting some friends to get drinks really soon before going to a queer women and nonbinary dance party later.”

“That’ll be fun!” Magnus said.

“Definitely! I can’t wait to dance with this one, she generally avoids events that require dancing.” Izzy put her arm around Clary, “But we’re dancing later right?”

“Yup! After a drink or three,” Clary laughed. “I need something to help me get over my two left feet.”

Izzy pulled out her phone, “Speaking of drinks, I think we should start heading to the bar, with all of the street closures for the parade it’s going to take a while to walk there.” She turned to Magnus, “It was so good seeing you! And thank you for the glitter, it’s exactly what I needed.”

She gave him a quick hug, stepping back to let Clary do the same, “Have a great time today!”

Alec gave them each a hug and let out a huge sigh once they were gone. “I love my little sister but sometimes she drives me nuts. Do you know she has all the buttons to my shirt in her bag? She was chucking them at me earlier!”

“What?” Magnus laughed, “That’s amazing, she’s ridiculous!”

“Ridiculous is the best way to describe her,” Alec shook his head slightly, smiling fondly to himself. “So, what’s the plan for the rest of the afternoon? Have you seen much of the parade yet?”

“I haven’t, it was super busy in the store all day, have there been any good ones?” Magnus took Alec’s hand and started to walk slowly with him along the parade route, taking in the colorful floats and cheering spectators.

“Nothing too crazy yet. I think Hayley Kiyoko was on one of the floats though, all the young queer women around me all started freaking out and chanting ‘Lesbian Jesus’ or something,” Alec smiled.

“Definitely Hayley Kiyoko, she’s the Lesbian Jesus didn’t you know?” Magnus grinned at Alec. “Let’s go find a spot to hang out and watch the rest of the parade and then I was thinking we could go back to my place? I grabbed some veggies and salmon yesterday that we can cook up real quick for dinner.”

“I like the sound of all of that,” Alec said.

“Good! Alright so I think I know a pretty good spot that might be in the shade for us to watch the parade from,” Magnus gripped Alec’s hand tightly and pulled, Alec gripping back just as tight to Magnus. Magnus smiled to himself as he walked in front of Alec, Alec’s hand in his own felt so right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gah, I know, it's been ages since I posted the last chapter. July and August are some of the busiest months farming for me (everything is growing and ready to be picked at once!). I'm absolutely planning to finish this story so don't think it's abandoned, it's just going to take me a little bit to get the chapters up over the next month or two.
> 
> Thank you so much for sticking with me as slowly get these chapters out, I really appreciate all of the amazing comments and kudos. It definitely helps keep me inspired when I'm totally pooped after work and trying to write. xx


	11. The First Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus rocked his hips to follow Alec’s movements, his hands worked their way up Alec’s chest. They were both still wearing the aprons they’d cooked dinner in and Magnus felt like there was way too much material between them. “We need to take this off,” he muttered into Alec’s ear. “We’re done with dinner, so we don’t need them anymore.”
> 
> Alec laughed throatily and turned his face toward Magnus, “Magnus, you know you can just say you want to take my clothes off, you don’t need to make excuses.”

Alec laughed as Magnus came toward him shimmying his shoulders and singing loudly along to the music that was playing on the Human Rights Campaign float that was going by.

“ _You are a dancing queen / Young and sweet / Only seventeen!”_ He sang hooking his arm through Alec’s. 

Alec laughed and joined in, he couldn’t help it, it was ABBA and today was Pride, plus Magnus was next to him and he couldn’t remember the last time he felt so happy, “ _Dancing queen / Feel the beat from the tambourine, oh yeah_!” They sang together. 

They weren’t the only ones, other groups of people watching the Human Rights Campaign float go by were dancing and singing. An impromptu dance party happening on the sidewalk. 

Magnus took Alec’s hand and spun him around, grinning broadly as Alec twirled away from him, dipping his body before Magnus pulled him back against his chest. Alec’s breath caught in his throat as he took in Magnus’ face; his kohl rimmed eyes were fixed on Alec and his glittering cheeks were lit with a huge smile. He really likes me, Alec thought suddenly, he took in the realization and felt momentarily speechless.

“I had no idea you were such a dancing queen Alexander,” he said pressing his lips to Alec’s jaw, “I like it.”

Alec’s eyes flicked to Magnus’, his golden-brown gaze impish. Alec did his best to grin back flirtatiously, “If you thought that was impressive you should see me when “Blame It On the Boogie” comes on.”

Magnus laughed, “The Jacksons? I think you just like it when singers have flamboyant clothes and lots of sequins.”

“What can I say, I’m drawn to flamboyancy,” Alec said and then looked pointedly at Magnus’ brightly colored outfit and his bare chest that was covered in glitter, "And I love glitter.”

“Good answer,” Magnus said, patting Alec on the cheek affectionately. Magnus pulled out his phone and looked at the time, Alec glanced down and saw that it was almost seven-fifteen. “I know that there’s still plenty more happening in the Village tonight, but if you’re ready to eat I’d be happy to bring you home. I did promise dinner after all.”

“Dinner sounds amazing,” Alec said. “And I can help you make it if you want?”

“Only if you’ll wear an apron,” Magnus had a glint in his eyes.

“Sure!” Alec said happily.

Before he could respond further Magnus added quickly, “And no shirt.”

Alec felt his face get hot at the idea of cooking with Magnus in only an apron. He cleared his throat, “Will you be similarly attired?”

“Of course,” Magnus said, taking Alec’s hand in his own. “Now let’s go, I’m hungry.” His eyes raked Alec’s bare chest before he looked in Alec’s eyes, “For food.”

Alec chuckled and allowed Magnus to lead him back to his apartment.

***

“Let me help you with that,” Magnus said playfully pulling Alec’s shirt down his shoulders. He reached into a closet in the foyer and pulled out two aprons. His favorite navy and white striped one for himself and a denim apron he didn’t use very often.

Alec took the apron from Magnus and slid it over his head, tying it tight around his waist. Magnus smiled at him, the blue denim set off Alec’s eyes making them seem like a deeper blue. “I like you in that apron, Alexander.”

Alec looked down self-consciously, “Oh, thanks. For letting me borrow it that is.”

Magnus watched Alec start to blush, a tight feeling in his chest that he recognized as the fondness he felt for the other man. He walked over to Alec to kiss him on his bright pink cheek, “Anytime darling.”

A soft meow broke the moment and Magnus looked down at Chairman Meow, “Chairman, you must be starving!” he exclaimed. He scooped up the cat and swept into his kitchen, turning lights on and powering up a Bluetooth speaker on as he went. Alec followed behind more timidly, it was only his second time in Magnus’ apartment.

“Um, so how can I help?” he asked Magnus.

“I’m doing a one-pan dinner, I didn’t want to make anything too complicated tonight, I figured we’d be tired and hungry once we got here.” Magnus reached into a cupboard and pulled out two cutting boards. “You can chop the veggies, I need to get the salmon ready and make a lemon and herb dressing.”

“Sounds good to me,” Alec reached towards the knives on Magnus’ counter. Magnus went into the refrigerator and took out the vegetables he’d gotten the day before. He passed the summer squash, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and peppers to Alec. “Any special way you want them cut?” Alec asked as he rinsed the squash in the sink.

“Any way you want love,” Magnus answered. He went to work chopping up dried rosemary and oregano and putting them into a bowl with minced garlic, olive oil, and fresh squeezed lemon in it. He left the kitchen to get fresh basil from his terrace, the music from Pride celebrations was still pumping in the streets below, he smiled to himself when he heard notes of “It’s Raining Men” by The Weather Girls.

Alec looked up as Magnus came back in, a grin breaking across his face, Magnus paused in his walk back to the kitchen to take in the scene.

“Everything okay?” Alec asked.

“Absolutely,” Magnus said, “everything is perfect.”

\--

“That was incredible Magnus,” Alec said leaning back in his chair. The plate in front of him was cleaned of all the salmon and roasted vegetables that they’d made.

“You’re the one who did the veggies, they came out perfectly.” Magnus popped the last blistered cherry tomato in his mouth.

“We make a good team,” Alec said, and then glancing over at Magnus he quickly added, “I mean, I think we do?”

Magnus reached over and put his hand over Alec’s, “I think we do too.”

Alec relaxed and rubbed his thumb over Magnus knuckles. He looked around Magnus’ loft, “Where does Chairman Meow disappear to when you eat? Church would practically be on the table if he thought I was eating fish.”

Magnus chuckled, “That’s why I fed the Chairman earlier, he always goes into a food coma after his dinner. I’m sure he’ll show back up sooner or later.” He moved to get up and start clearing their plates.

“I can help,” Alec said jumping to his feet. He picked up the salt and pepper shakers and their two water glasses, Magnus had already grabbed their cutlery and plates.

“Thank you darling,” Magnus said. “I’ll just pop everything right into the dishwasher.” Alec passed the glasses to Magnus and sipped at his remaining sauvignon blanc turning to walk into Magnus’ living room area.

Magnus straightened up and pressed the dishwasher on. Thankful to have an apartment where he didn’t have to do all his dishes by hand. He looked over at Alec, he was swaying gently to the music playing over the speaker and reading the titles of Magnus’ books.

Magnus felt mesmerized by the movement of Alec’s hips, he walked up behind Alec and fit himself against his back, letting his lips flit along Alec’s neck. He heard Alec inhale sharply before pressing firmly back into Magnus, still swinging his hips to the music.

_I feel like I'm drowning / I'm drowning / You're holding me down and / Holding me down / You're killing me slow / So slow, oh-no / I feel like I'm drowning / I'm drowning_

Magnus rocked his hips to follow Alec’s movements, his hands worked their way up Alec’s chest. They were both still wearing the aprons they’d cooked dinner in and Magnus felt like there was way too much material between them. “We need to take this off,” he muttered into Alec’s ear. “We’re done with dinner, so we don’t need them anymore.”

Alec laughed throatily and turned his face toward Magnus, “Magnus, you know you can just say you want to take my clothes off, you don’t need to make excuses.”

Magnus untied the knot at the back of Alec’s apron and lifted it over his head letting it fall to the floor. He reached behind himself and untied his own tossing it to the floor beside Alec’s. “Mmmm, you’re right Alexander, I suppose I could just tell you that I want you to take off all of your clothes so that I can run my hands all over you.” His hands danced across Alec’s now bare chest to run along the top of Alec’s shorts.

Alec’s breath hitched at the sensation, “I’d like that, I’d like that a lot.” He turned around, still in Magnus’ embrace and tilted his head up kiss along Magnus’ jaw.

Magnus gasped, and he pulled Alec tightly against himself, their hips pressing hard against one another. His mouth came down on Alec’s, softly at first until Alec bit down gently on Magnus’ bottom lip before sucking it into his mouth. Magnus groaned at the sensation and kissed Alec harder, his tongue running over Alec’s lips before Alec opened his mouth and began swirling his tongue with Magnus’.

Alec began moving his hips, the sensation causing Magnus’ cock to start hardening behind the overalls he was somehow still wearing. He felt desperate to get himself and Alec out of their clothes as soon as possible.

***

“Bedroom?” Alec heard Magnus murmur when their lips finally broke apart. Alec’s head felt dizzy from the kiss and his heart was beating wildly in his chest.

“Absolutely,” Alec said, barely moving away from Magnus. The pull he felt towards Magnus seemed visceral and he _needed_ to be closer. 

Magnus grabbed Alec by two belt loops on his shorts and started to pull as he walked backwards towards his bedroom, keeping their bodies close. Alec hooked his hands around Magnus’ back to help steady him, running his fingers inside the overalls to stroke them up and down Magnus’ toned back. He felt Magnus shiver at the sensation before pulling against Alec’s belt loops again, their hips pressed tightly together. Magnus’ mouth came down on Alec’s and his hips bucked forward, the feel of Magnus’ semi-hard cock was unmistakable against Alec’s thigh. He groaned into Magnus’ mouth, a low burn growing in his abdomen.

They stumbled their way to the bedroom, the back of Magnus’ knees finally hitting the bed behind him. Magnus sat slowly on the bed, pulling Alec down so that he was seated above him. Alec looked down into Magnus’ eyes, their usual golden color darkened in the low-lighting of the room, Magnus smiled at him.

“You sure you want to do this? I don’t want you to do anything that you don’t want.” he said, he took Alec’s hand in his and brushed his lips across the back of his knuckles.

Alec’s heart fluttered, both at the featherlight kiss and Magnus’ concern for him, he gripped tightly to Magnus’ hand. “Yes, oh my god, yes absolutely. I want this so much Magnus, I want this with you.” Alec paused, a panicked thought running through his mind, “You want to have sex with me, right?”

Magnus didn’t even hesitate, “Oh Alexander,” Magnus practically purred, “there’s nothing I want more right now than to make love to you.” He reached up, both of his thumbs coming up to rest on Alec’s jaw as he took Alec’s face softly pulling him down to kiss him. Alec let his eyes close, relishing in the kiss and the knowledge that Magnus wanted him too.

The soft kiss quickly turned heated, Magnus traced the outline of Alec’s lips with his tongue, Alec opened his mouth and swirled his tongue with Magnus’ as it entered.

Magnus brought his hands to the top of Alec’s shorts, lazily running his fingers along them until they reached the top button. Magnus paused, his hand ran down the length of Alec’s cock through the material. Alec ground his hips forward into the touch, aching for more. Magnus ran his hand back up, his fingers nimbly undoing the button and zipper to slide the shorts down. Alec rose up to help get the shorts off and then seated himself back in Magnus’ lap, wearing only his Calvin Klein Pride briefs, black with a rainbow waist band.

“I like these,” Magnus murmured. He ran his hands along the cotton material to palm Alec’s ass, squeezing it firmly. Alec bit back a moan. Magnus moved his hand to the front of Alec’s briefs and reached in, his hand closing around Alec’s cock.

Alec let out a low, “Fuck,” as his hips jerked forward pushing his cock up. Magnus’ hand slid slowly down his cock, barely touching him. Alec clenched his eyes shut and inhaled deeply, the teasing touch of Magnus’ hand driving him crazy. He brought his hands up to rake through Magnus’ hair, tugging gently on it to tip Magnus’ head back, “Are you trying to torture me?” he asked.

Magnus chuckled throatily, “I have no idea what you’re talking abou –,” Magnus stopped laughing and let out a loud gasp. Alec leaned in and kissed his way along Magnus’ jaw, his tongue darting out every so often as his kissed down to Magnus’ clavicle. He brought his hands down to unsnap the front of Magnus’ overalls, the bib in the front falling to reveal Magnus’ smooth brown chest, the silver necklaces he’d worn shining brightly amongst the glitter still covering his skin. Alec let his eyes linger on the sight in front of him for a moment.

Magnus used Alec’s pause to pull his hand out from Alec’s briefs and deftly move himself and Alec further up the bed, pushing Alec down to lay on his back while he moved to straddle him. Magnus looked down at Alec, a wicked grin on his face, he hummed quietly to the song playing and rolled his hips. Alec put his hands on Magnus’ hips, his nails digging into the fabric of his overalls as he pulled Magnus hard against him and thrust his hips up to meet the movement of Magnus’ rolling hips. “Magnus why are you still wearing these?” Alec grabbed at the overalls for emphasis.

“Why haven’t _you_ taken them off?” Magnus quipped back, his eyebrow raised. He ran his hands down Alec’s chest, tracing the tattoos on his chest. Alec grinned and pulled the overalls further down until they were pooled at Magnus’ hips. Magnus looked down, “I suppose I can help from here.” He moved off Alec, standing beside the bed to shimmy out of his overalls and then the briefs he was wearing underneath.

Alec tried not to stare at Magnus’ naked body too much, though it was made difficult by the sight of his hard cock jutting up towards his flat stomach. His stomach flipped with excitement at the thought of having Magnus’ cock buried deep in his ass so soon.

Magnus turned away from the bed and reached into the table next to the bed, he pulled out a black bottle of lube and a foil wrapped condom. He placed them both on the side table and turned back to Alec, a gleam in his eyes, “Just wanted to get those out now.” He came back on to the bed and reached to pull Alec’s briefs off, “ And as much as I like you in these,” he tossed the black Pride underwear over his shoulder on to the floor, “I like you even better with nothing on.”

Alec felt himself flush with the compliment. He sat up so that both he and Magnus were kneeling on the bed facing one another, the same height in this position. Magnus reached out and pulled Alec closer to him, their cocks brushing together. Alec brought his mouth down on Magnus, rolling his tongue against Magnus’. He reached between them to tentatively grab a hold of Magnus’ hard length.

Magnus’ breath caught, his grip tightening on Alec, and rocked his hips in time to Alec’s strokes. Emboldened by Magnus’ rocking Alec gripped Magnus more firmly, twisting his hand at the head of Magnus’ cock. “Oh, fuck, yes,” Magnus gasped. Alec stroked his cock a few moments more before deciding he needed to taste Magnus.

He pushed Magnus down so that his head was towards the headboard of the bed and then bent down to take Magnus’ cock in his mouth. He groaned as he took the length in his mouth, reveling in the heat and flavor of Magnus. He started to slowly bob up and down on Magnus’ cock, hollowing his cheeks as he sucked.

“Oh god, Alexander, jesus fucking christ, that feels so good,” Magnus panted. He put his hands in Alec’s hair, twisting his ringed hands in the dark locks. Alec’s eyes closed in pleasure at the slight pain of having his hair pulled.

He moved his mouth down onto Magnus’ cock as far as he could, his nose pressing into Magnus’ neatly trimmed pubic hairs. He held himself there for a moment, relaxing his throat before pulling back to take a breath. Magnus’ cock was shiny with saliva when Alec took him back in his mouth, bobbing up and down skillfully while he reached up to play with Magnus’ balls.

Alec could feel the pre-come dripping out of his own cock as he repeatedly swallowed Magnus’ cock as deep as he could. Magnus seemed to be holding himself back, his muscles were tense and his hands gripped Alec’s hair tightly, though he didn’t fuck deeply into Alec’s mouth. Alec glanced up at Magnus, he had thrown his head back and was panting heavily, his glittering chest heaving.

As if feeling Alec’s gaze Magnus opened his eyes and, they were blown dark with lust and the make-up that had still been nearly perfect during dinner was smudged. He gently pulled Alec off his cock, “As much as I want to come in that sexy mouth of yours, I would _really_ like to fuck you.”

Alec’s breath caught, “Yes please,” he whispered.

Magnus sat up and brought Alec’s face to his own for a long deep kiss, he pulled back and looked seriously at Alec, “I know we both want this but I don’t want to gloss over the fact that this is your first time Alexander; I’m going to need you to communicate with me if something doesn’t feel right and you need me to stop. It’s nothing to be ashamed of and you can say ‘no’ at any time, okay?”

Alec nodded, clearing his throat, “Okay, yeah, no, uh, yeah thank you for saying that.” He glanced away from Magnus’ intense gaze, “I really appreciate it.” Alec felt his face flush, but he meant every word; Magnus’ kindness and attentiveness to Alec’s comfort in this brand-new situation.

Magnus took Alec’s face in his hand, he brushed his thumb over his cheekbone before saying, “You deserve to have an incredible experience, I am so honored to be a part of this.” Alec ducked his head, unsure what to do with Magnus’ words. Magnus leaned in and brushed his lips against Alec’s ear, “I can’t tell you how excited I am to have sex with you,” he breathed, his words and his breath causing shivers to go down Alec’s back.

Magnus guided Alec to lay back, he mouthed his way down Alec’s neck to his chest, kissing and gently biting. When he reached Alec’s nipples he took one in his mouth sucking and swirling his tongue around it. Alec let out a loud gasp at the pleasure that shot through him. Too soon though Magnus moved on, his mouth getting closer and closer to Alec’s cock.

Once he finally reached it he licked a strip up the underside, his tongue coming up to tease along the slit before he sank his mouth down onto Alec’s cock. Alec’s eyes slammed shut as his cock was engulfed in a wet heat, “Holy fuck Magnus, that feels so fucking good.”

Alec opened his eyes and looked down at Magnus, taking in the sight of his dark hair accented with blue, purple, and pink, bobbing up on down on his cock. He reached a hand down to run through the soft hair, Magnus’ eyes flicked up to meet his at the touch. He kept his eyes fixed on Alec and brought his mouth up and nearly off Alec’s cock, swirling his tongue around its tip and using one hand to jerk his cock; each flick of his tongue over his slit made his abdominal muscles tense and brought a fresh bolt of pleasure through Alec. His head fell back onto the mattress and he could hear himself whimpering, unable to help the sounds coming out of him.

Magnus kept one hand on Alec’s cock, working whatever part of his cock that wasn’t in his mouth, but moved the other hand from where it had been gripping Alec’s thigh down. Alec felt one of Magnus’ finger wind teasingly through the saliva dripping down Alec’s cock onto his balls, his finger slid across the sensitive skin easily coming to gently circle Alec’s rim. Alec resisted the urge to tense up and took a deep breath, relaxing his body and letting his knees fall to the sides.

Magnus’ mouth came off Alec’s cock with a soft ‘pop,’ “Mmm, Alexander I love seeing you ready to open up for me.” He sat up and reached over to the side table where he’d put the lube and condom from earlier. He quickly took off the rings he’d been wearing and dropped them in a small tray on the table before grabbing the lube. Magnus squirted some in his hand and reached between Alec’s legs. 

Alec tensed at the cool lube but it warmed up quickly when Magnus started to move. He gently rubbed Alec’s asshole with one finger, circling around it slowly, and pressing not quite hard enough to slide into Alec. The teasing circles were driving Alec crazy, “Magnus, fuck, oh my god please, I need to feel you inside me.” He was panting and staring down at Magnus. 

“Since you said please,” Magnus said with a wink. He slid one well-lubed finger inside Alec.

Alec had been expecting the slight pressure he’d feel, he’d had Magnus’ fingers inside of him before, and he’d used dildos on himself too; but this time it felt different. He knew that Magnus wasn’t going to stop with one, two, or three fingers, Magnus was opening him up to eventually fuck him with his cock.

Alec’s body tensed, he hadn’t meant to but the intensity of what he and Magnus were about to do together overwhelmed him. What if it hurt too much? What if he didn’t like it? Fingers and toys weren’t quite the same as someone else fucking you. And what if Magnus thought Alec was too inexperienced and not worth having around once he realized Alec had no idea what he was doing.

Magnus stopped moving and removed his finger from Alec’s ass and looked up at him, “Alexander, is everything alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, everything’s fine. I’m, uh, a bit more nervous than I thought I’d be I guess,” he felt his face heat up as he said the words. He closed his eyes, he couldn’t look at Magnus, what if he saw annoyance or disappointment on his gorgeous face?

The bed shifted, and Alec cracked open an eye, Magnus had sat up and was looking at Alec with an expression of concern. “You know we don’t have to do this tonight, right? I don’t want you to have sex with me because you think I want it. I mean, I want you, but not if you don’t want to or you’re not ready.” Magnus gave Alec a small smile, “I can wait,”

Alec took a deep breath, “I want this Magnus, I want this so bad.” He paused, forcing himself to communicate with Magnus. “I’m nervous it’s going to hurt a lot,” Alec said quietly, unable to look Magnus in the eyes. Magnus opened his mouth to respond but Alec rushed on, “And what if I hate it? I’ve always thought I’d love it but, fuck, what if I don’t?” Alec stopped himself before he said anything about his fear that Magnus would break-up with him after this. Could he even be broken up with if he and Magnus had never officially been boyfriends?

“Alexander, please, look at me,” Magnus said, he leaned forward and propped himself above Alec, taking care not to put the hand that had been in Alec’s ass near him. Alec looked up into Magnus’ eyes, “I would never hurt you intentionally, I can’t promise it won’t be uncomfortable at first, but I’m vers and I’ve bottomed plenty of times, I know from experience it does get better, so much better.” Magnus smiled earnestly at Alec, “I know it’s scary this first time, you haven’t done this before and you’re putting so much trust in me to do right by you, but Alexander, I swear I’m going to do everything I can to make you feel so good.”

Alec looked at Magnus, the excitement he’d been feeling before his brain started spiraling was coming back, a low heat in his abdomen that he recognized as desire. He reached up and pulled Magnus’ mouth down to his, he tried to convey the gratitude and relief that he felt for Magnus in the kiss. He pulled back a few moments later, Magnus was grinning at him, Alec smiled shyly at Magnus, “Sorry about that, I got in my head there a little bit. I want to do this, I trust you.”

Magnus bent his head and gave Alec a quick, yet still heated kiss, “I meant it when I said I wanted to make you feel so good.” He traced one hand lazily down Alec’s torso to Alec’s cock, pumping it slowly. Alec had stayed semi-hard through their conversation, so it didn’t take much before he was once again fully erect. He groaned when Magnus gripped his cock tighter, “Can I make you feel good Alexander?” Magnus asked.

“Yes, yes, please,” Alec breathed. He held back a whine when Magnus’ hand came off his cock, already missing the feeling of Magnus on him.

Magnus didn’t waste any time, he moved down Alec’s body, kissing and nipping until he was back to where he’d been before. He reached for the lube and squirted some in his hand. “I’m going to use my fingers to open you up Alexander, I’m going to fuck you with my fingers until _you_ ask me to fill you up with my cock.”

“Holy fuck,” Alec didn’t think he’d ever heard sexier words directed at him. He moaned again when he felt Magnus press one slick finger against his rim. Alec ground his hips down to meet Magnus when he slid his finger into Alec. This time Alec’s brain focused on the slight stretch in his ass and the way Magnus had crooked his finger to lightly brush Alec’s prostate. Alec’s body jolted at that first touch, “Yes Magnus, fuck, more, god, more”.

Magnus didn’t oblige at first, he bent his head and kissed along Alec’s abs, slowly thrusting his finger in and out. Alec kept rocking his hips down to meet Magnus, waiting for Magnus to finally put a second finger in him.

When Magnus finally did add a second finger Alec bit down on his bottom lip and let out a low moan. He felt himself relax, Magnus had used plenty of lube and Alec quickly became comfortable with the added finger. “More,” he pleaded, “Please Magnus, give me more.”

“Well, since you said please, Alexander,” Magnus said. He kissed Alec’s chest, lightly sucking one of his nipples into his mouth. He took his fingers out of Alec’s ass and put a little bit more lube on them before lining up three of his fingers. Alec let out a deep breath when Magnus pressed back into him, the slight pinch of pressure quickly becoming a deep pleasure as Magnus continued to brush his prostate.

Alec gripped the soft sheets beneath him, he felt hot all over. He felt ready for what came next, to finally feel Magnus inside of him. “Magnus,” he panted, “Magnus, I’m ready.”

Magnus paused, Alec opened his eyes and looked at the other man. Magnus’ eyes were dark, a fire smoldered behind them as he stared at Alec. “What are you saying Alexander?” he asked.

“I’m,” Alec took a breath, “I want you, I’m ready for you.”

Magnus pulled his fingers out and reached off the side of the bed for his briefs to wipe his hand quickly. “You need to tell me if I do anything that hurts too much, okay?” Magnus said as he unwrapped the condom he’d grabbed before and rolled it down his cock.

Alec nodded, and then cleared his throat, “I will.” He felt tense again, but it wasn’t the fear and nerves he’d been consumed by earlier, he was nervous, but his body felt ready, and most importantly, he felt ready.

Magnus leaned forward and kissed Alec deeply, Alec felt his hardness brush against his own hard cock, he bucked his hips forward, chasing the sensation. “Mmmm, Alexander,” Magnus groaned into his lips and then pulled back. He moved so that he was knelt between Alec’s thighs, “It might be more comfortable if you’re on your stomach –.”

Alec cut Magnus off before he could continue, “I don’t, I mean, I want to face you if that’s okay?” Alec felt himself blush. He was sure that he’d _definitely_ like to try having sex with his face deep in a pillow and ass up in the air, but he’d never had sex before and it felt important to him that he see Magnus.

Magnus nodded and gave Alec a sexy smile, “Anything you want, Alexander.” He took the lube and put some on his hand, rubbing it up and down his cock to coat it in the slick substance, he spread the rest on Alec’s ass. “You ready?” he asked, lining up the head of his cock with Alec’s entrance.

Alec opened his legs wider, pulling his knees up like he’d seen in some of the porn he watched; he’d never felt more vulnerable and exposed. He focused on the feeling of Magnus’ cock teasing his ass, “Yes,” he whispered.

Magnus guided himself into Alec, moving slowly, his face scrunched in concentration. “Oh my god, fuck, you feel so good,” Magnus rasped. He shuddered and stilled when he was halfway into Alec, his eyes were tightly shut, and he was taking deep breaths.

Alec was surprised how different it felt to have Magnus inside him versus a dildo or his fingers, he could feel every inch of Magnus’ cock that he’d slid into Alec so far. It wasn’t the most pleasurable feeling, but it wasn’t uncomfortable and he could already feel his ass stretching to accommodate Magnus. Alec moved experimentally, shifting his hips up Magnus’ cock slightly before he pressed back down, feeling another inch of Magnus’ cock filling him up.

Magnus’ eyes snapped open, “Fuck, Alexander, I, I don’t know how long I can last. You’re so tight. I –.” He groaned and stopped speaking as Alec once again moved up Magnus’ cock and rocked further down; if he angled his hips slightly up he could feel Magnus’ cock rub along his prostate.

Alec groaned and felt his dick twitch, his whole body felt hot. He reached down to take his cock in his hand, he began stroking it, before letting his legs fall open even wider. Magnus seemed to have gotten himself under control and had started moving his hips, fucking into Alec. Alec hooked on of his ankles around Magnus’ hips, pulling his cock deeper into him. Magnus came down, one hand on either side of Alec’s head. Alec reached up with the hand not on his cock to grab Magnus’ hair, leaning forward to kiss Magnus roughly. He bit down on Magnus’ lip, “Fuck. Me. Magnus,” he growled. He surprised himself with his assertive tone but was rewarded when Magnus immediately complied with a grunt.

Every stroke of Magnus’ cock along his sensitive nerves sent ripples of pleasure through his body like he’d never experienced before. He gripped his own cock tighter as he felt his body get closer to release, his whole body tensing like a tightly coiled spring.

“Oh fuck, fuck, christ, yes Magnus, there, right there,” Alec was babbling, repeating Magnus’ name and his favorite profanities as he got closer and closer to coming.

“You’re so fucking sexy Alexander,” Magnus breathed, “Come for me.”

Alec grunted, his hand moving furiously on his cock. He was overwhelmed by the intensity of the pleasure ready to shatter him. Magnus continued to thrust in and out of Alec as he came with a shout, “Oh fuck, fuck Magnus, I’m coming.” He felt the hot ropes of his come shoot on his chest as he finally allowed himself to dissolve into pleasure.

Magnus made a strangled sound in his throat, his body taut as Alec’s body clenched down around him. He thrust into Alec a few more times before pulling out of Alec, his ass felt empty without Magnus. He was distracted from the feeling when Magnus pulled off his condom and began jerking his cock over Alec’s stomach and torso. His eyes were screwed up in concentration and his hand sped up over his cock, “Oh my god, fuck,” he cried out before coming. His come shot out to mix with Alec’s, liberally coating his chest and abs.

Alec was breathing heavily, his body still tingled from his orgasm. “Holy fuck Alexander, we need to do that all the time,” Magnus groaned. He let his body drop down to rest on Alec for a moment, the come all over Alec’s chest smearing between them. Magnus groaned and sat up, “Oh shit, sorry darling, I’ll grab a wash cloth to clean us up.”

Alec nodded, he wasn’t sure if he could make sentences yet, “Okay babe,” he muttered, Magnus kissed Alec’s cheek and got up. Magnus had already left the room when Alec realized that he’d just called Magnus ‘babe.’ He would have usually panicked, but he couldn’t be bothered at that moment; maybe it was the after-effects of sex, or maybe it was because Alec finally believed that Magnus really liked him.

Before Alec’s brain started over-analyzing everything again and he decided to ask Magnus something important.

***

Magnus looked over at Alec from where he’d finally collapsed next to him after cleaning them both up, his bare chest was flushed and still covered in glitter. Magnus knew from experience that Alec would be finding glitter everywhere for weeks. He smiled and closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the sound of Alec’s breaths becoming more even. Feeling the bed shift he cracked an eye open, Alec had turned on his side to look at Magnus, a hesitant expression on his face.

“So, I’ve been meaning to ask you something,” he said letting his words trail off.

Magnus quirked an eyebrow, “You, the gorgeous glittering man in my bed with who I just had some incredible sex with, can ask me anything right now.” He winked at Alec who blushed and ducked his head into the pillow. Magnus had never seen someone so adorable in his life.

Magnus reached out and brushed his hand against Alec’s chest, lazily tracing his fingers through the glitter caught in his damp chest hair. After a moment Alec turned back to Magnus and said in a rush, “Doyouwannabemyboyfriend?” He turned bright pink and looked at Magnus nervously.

Magnus’ ears perked, had Alec said something about being his boyfriend? “Alexander are you asking to go steady with me?” he asked playfully.

Alec’s shoulders relaxed, “Um yeah?” He grinned, “But only if you’ll wear my letterman jacket.”

Magnus feigned horror, “Your letterman jacket? Oh no honey, you can wear mine, it’s bedazzled.”

Alec broke into laughter, his eyes crinkling at the edges, Magnus joined in before scooting closer to Alec to rest his head on his chest. Magnus heard Alec chuckle quietly to himself and felt his hand start to rub circles on his exposed back. “So, is that a yes then?”

Magnus lifted his head up and looked into Alec’s blue eyes, “It’s definitely a yes Alexander Lightwood, I’d love to be your boyfriend.”

Alec’s bright smile seemed to fill Magnus’ bedroom with light. He pulled Magnus up his chest to embrace him tightly, pressing a soft kiss against his lips. Alec looked almost giddy with excitement, “I finally have a super-hot and amazing boyfriend!”

Magnus grinned back, looking down at Alec from where he’d propped himself above him. He felt his stomach grumble with hunger, dinner seemed like hours ago. “A super-hot and amazing boyfriend who could really go for some mochi ice cream.”

Alec quickly sat up, nearly knocking his head with Magnus, “Oh my god, yes, absolutely, let’s do it.”

Magnus was surprised, not that Alec seemed to like mochi ice cream as much as him, but that Alec was already moving to get out of bed. He’d seemed basically comatose minutes ago. “Really? I thought you would never move from this bed again?”

Alec grinned sheepishly, “Mochi ice cream is a good motivator I guess. Green tea mochi ice cream might be one of my favorite desserts.”

“Good to know,” Magnus mused to himself. He got out of bed and started moving around the room to find something to wear. He selected a pair of loose-fitting black salwar pants and a white shirt, the salwar pants hung low on his hips and a small sliver of this brown skin was visible between the two articles of clothing. He felt Alec’s eyes on him, he looked up and winked at his boyfriend.

Alec’s face colored when he realized Magnus caught him looking, he coughed, “Uh, I like that,” he gestured to all of Magnus, “a lot.”

Magnus laughed, “Well I like that,” he dragged his eyes down Alec’s still nude body, “a lot.”

Alec gripped his briefs in his hands tightly and ducked his head, “Oh, um, thanks?” He pulled on the rainbow briefs and found his shorts on the floor. He looked at the formerly button-down shirt he’d worn at the parade. “Is there any way I could borrow a shirt? This one is missing some buttons.”

“I almost forgot about that!” Magnus went into his closet and pulled out a relatively plain t-shirt, for his standards at least, he held it out to Alec, “I think this will work.”

Alec held up the black shirt and looked at Magnus, “Seriously Magnus.”

Magnus shrugged, “I just can’t seem to find anything else.”

Alec shook his head at Magnus but was wearing a small smile. He pulled the shirt over his head and turned to face Magnus. ‘Blink If You Want Me’ was written largely across the t-shirt in sequins. Magnus looked at Alec and blinked innocently at him. Alec grinned broadly and followed Magnus out of the bedroom.

Chairman Meow wound his way around Magnus’ legs as he walked through the kitchen, gazing beseechingly at him with yellow eyes. “I know, I know, you hate being locked out of the bedroom, but I promise it was for your own good,” Magnus crooned as he picked up the gray and white cat, scratching him behind the ears. 

He heard Alec chuckle behind him, “I have a lot of conversations with Church, but he really isn’t much of a conversationalist,” he thought for a moment, “unless I have a full bowl of food.”

“Oh, the Chairman is an excellent conversationalist, a _purr-fect_ one you might say,” Magnus glanced over his shoulder at Alec. He was looking at Magnus and trying not to laugh. “C’mon, it was a decent pun!”

“ _Ap-purr-ently_ my boyfriend is into bad puns? I wish I’d known that before,” Alec said, his eyes twinkling. 

Magnus gasped dramatically, “You can’t use the same word I just did! That’s against the rules of puns.”

Alec looked up from where he was tying the laces on his shoes, his blue eyes full of mischief, “Oops I didn’t realize you weren’t _kitten_ around when it came to puns.”

Magnus burst out laughing, Chairman Meow leaping from his arms at the loud sound. He wiped a tear from his eye, Alec was grinning at him. 

“Jace got me Punderdome last year for my birthday, he’s constantly making Izzy and me play it when they come over for dinner.” Alec rolled his eyes, “Jace is under the impression that he’s the punniest man alive.”

Magnus grabbed Alec’s hand after he slid his feet into a pair of black sandals, “Now that is a game I could get behind! Do you think Ragnor and Raphael would enjoy it too?”

Alec choked out a laugh, “Ragnor maybe, but Raphael?” Alec shook his head smiling, “Maybe he’d surprise us and end up the punniest of all.”

“I’ll let him know you said that,” Magnus said, giving Alec a quick peck on the cheek.

They walked down the stairs of Magnus’ building and into the still warm summer air. “It’s a twenty minute walk to Mochi Mama, we can always call a Lyft if you’d rather not walk. We did just get quite a work out in,” Magnus winked, watching Alec immediately begin blush. 

“Uh, walk, walking is good,” he stammered, still turning pink. 

“I just can’t get over your blushes,” Magnus said, leaning in to kiss Alec on both of his bright pink cheeks.

Magnus pulled back and hooked his arm through Alec’s, “Come along boyfriend, we have mochi ice cream to get!”

***

Alec ate his last bite of mochi ice cream, relishing in the sweet flavor of the rice dough and green tea ice cream inside. He and Magnus had sat down at one of the small bistro tables outside of Mama Mochi and were just finishing up the bite sized desserts. 

“I’m so glad you suggested this,” Alec said. He looked contentedly at the now empty container in front of them, “I always forget how much more I love ice cream when it’s wrapped in rice dough.”

“Plus, they’re adorable!” Magnus said, popping the last of his lychee mochi ice cream in his mouth. 

Alec tried not to stare as Magnus quickly stuck his finger in his mouth to suck off the remaining ice cream. Magnus quirked an eyebrow at him. “Um, you’ve got a little something right there.” Alec gestured at the corner of Magnus’ mouth. 

Magnus leaned forward, his voice low and sultry, “Alexander, can you help me? You know I can’t walk around with something on my face.”

Alec gulped and scooted to the edge of his seat, he gave a quick look around to make sure none of the other customers outside were watching him. Seeing that they were all too preoccupied with their own mochi confections he leaned in and kissed the small amount of lychee ice cream from the corner of Magnus’ mouth. 

Magnus turned to catch Alec’s lips before he pulled away, the kiss was quick yet searing, leaving Alec desperate for more. “Can we, uh, can we go back to your apartment?” he asked, trying not to sound as desperate as he felt.

Magnus looked at Alec, his eyes blazing and nodded, “Of course we can, we can have some more dessert.” He winked and stood up. Alec stood and linked his fingers with Magnus’ to start walking back to Magnus’ apartment. 

“Magnus? Magnus Bane! Is that you?” A woman’s voice called from behind them on the sidewalk. 

Alec felt Magnus freeze beside him, his whole body stiffening at the voice. Alec turned to see who had called out to Magnus. 

A group of four people stood behind them, an elegant blonde woman stood at the front of the group with two men milling behind her and a dark-haired woman staring intently at Alec. 

Magnus took a deep breath and turned around too, a fake smile on his face, “Camille what a surprise!”

Alec looked at Magnus, Camille, as in Magnus’ ex-fiancé who broke his heart Camille? Alec instinctively moved closer to Magnus, gripping his hand tightly to let Magnus know he was there. 

Magnus gripped back in response and seemed to relax a fraction. “I didn’t know you still frequented the West Village,” he said lightly. 

Camille tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder, “Only because _they_ demanded to go to some trendy restaurant for a late dinner, Tomato something?” She gestured lazily at the people with her.

Alec watched Magnus take in the people behind Camille, his eyes narrowed at the sour-faced woman with dark hair. 

“So, who’s this?” Camille asked, sounding bored. She nodded her head at Alec and stepped forward her hand outstretched limply. “I’m Camille Belcourt, I’m sure you’ve read some of my articles in Page Six.” At Alec’s blank look she added, “At the New York Post,” in an irritated voice.

“Huh, I’m not sure I’ve ever read that section of the Post,” Alec said thoughtfully. Camille’s superficial smile turned icy and she jerked her hand back to her side.

“Camille, this is Alec Lightwood,” Magnus said, stepping in before Camille could say something else. He looked at Alec and smiled before adding, “My boyfriend.”

“Good for you Magnus,” Camille said condescendingly. She half-turned to gesture at the three people behind her. “Magnus you remember Walker, my assistant at the Post,” a short, skinny man with brown hair nodded his head at Magnus and Alec.

Magnus quirked an eyebrow, “I’m surprised you’re still working for her. Camille must have something on you to keep you as her assistant that long,” he said looking at Walker. The other man flushed at his words.

Camille went on, ignoring Magnus’ interruption, “And I’m sure you met Lilith and her partner Samael at some point. Lilith works with me at the Post.” The pale, dark-haired woman turned her dark eyes once again on Alec.

“A pleasure,” Lilith said, not taking her eyes off Alec.

“Uh, yeah sure,” Alec replied. The woman made him uneasy, Magnus seemed to feel the same way because he stepped between Alec and Camille’s group.

“Camille it’s been a delight seeing you but we’re off, enjoy your night,” Magnus turned around, not waiting for Camille to say anything else, and pulled Alec gently away from the group.

Once they’d gotten a few blocks away Magnus stopped walking and leaned heavily against a lamppost, he closed his eyes and took in a few calming breaths. “Honestly Alexander, I never thought I’d have to introduce you to her.” He looked imploringly at Alec, “I hope this whole thing hasn’t ruined our evening.”

Alec gazed at Magnus, taking in the worry and fear that clouded his golden eyes, “Magnus,” he began, grabbing hold of both Magnus’ hands, “there’s no way this day could be ruined.” Magnus looked disbelievingly at him, “Seriously Magnus, we got to spend the day being queer as fuck, I didn’t wear a real shirt all day and I’m still covered in glitter, and then, after an incredible dinner I might add, we had the most amazing sex I’ve ever had. I know,” he held up a hand to stop Magnus who had opened his mouth the interject, “I know I haven’t had much other sex to compare it to but I’m pretty sure it was fucking amazing.”

“It was fucking amazing,” Magnus said leaning in for a quick kiss, a smile back on his face.

“Exactly!” Alec continued, “And then to top the day off you agreed to be my boyfriend, and not just any boyfriend, but a boyfriend who knew where to get the best mochi I’ve had.” Alec grinned broadly at Magnus, “So what I’m trying to say is that meeting Camille and her groupies was weird, yes, but it couldn’t ruin today.”

“Thank you, Alexander,” Magnus said tenderly, “I’m not sure how I got so lucky, but I’m so glad to have met you.”

“Me too,” Alec agreed, pulling Magnus tightly against himself and walking back towards his apartment. He kissed Magnus’ cheek as they walked, and he looked at the man who was now his boyfriend, boyfriend! Alec felt certain that nothing could bring him down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi hi, I'm back! (finally!) I hope you liked the latest chapter, my apologies it's been a long time coming; life's been busy. BUT the days outside are shorter and I get to spend more time cozying up with the cat to write in the evenings :)
> 
> I'd love to hear what you thought of the chapter, so any comments/critiques/kudos/and general lovin's are always appreciated xx


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